Semiconductor cleaning apparatus and wafer cassette

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus includes a cassette loader/unloader for moving a cassette; a product loader/unloader for loading a wafer into and unloading a wafer from a cassette; a cleaner for cleaning a wafer; a water cleaner for cleaning with water a wafer that has been cleaned in the cleaner; a dryer for drying the wafer that has been cleaned with water in the water cleaner; and a conveyance having a wafer grasping hand for directly holding a wafer unloaded from a cassette and sequentially conveying the wafer held by the wafer hand to the cleaner, the water cleaner, and the dryer.

This application is a division of patent application Ser. No.08/123,244, filed Sep. 20, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,171.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a semiconductor cleaning apparatus forcleaning semiconductor wafers and a wafer cassette for accommodating thesemiconductor wafers.

2. Description of the Related Art

The structure of a conventional semiconductor cleaning apparatus isshown in FIG. 90. A product cassette accommodating non-cleaned wafers isinjected into a loader/unloader portion 11. The product cassette is, bya conveyance robot (omitted from illustration), moved to a shiftingportion 12. In the shifting portion 12, the wafer is shifted from theproduct cassette to a cleaning cassette. The cleaning cassetteaccommodating the wafers 1 is held by a cassette hand of a portion 19for conveying products to be cleaned so that it is sequentially moved toa cleaning portion 14, a water cleaning portion 15 and a drying portion16. Thus, the process for cleaning the wafers 1 is performed.

FIG. 91 illustrates a cleaning cassette 2 held by the cassette hand ofthe portion 19 for conveying products to be cleaned. The cleaningcassette 2 is so arranged as to be capable of accommodating a pluralityof wafers 1. The cassette hand comprises a chuck-support arm 19bconnected to a movable arm 19a and a chuck 19c supported by theforegoing chuck-support arm 19b, the chuck 19c supporting a flange 2a ofthe cleaning cassette 2 so that the cassette 2 is held by the cassettehand.

The process for cleaning the wafers 1 will now be described withreference to FIG. 92. First, the movable arm 19a is retracted whileholding the cassette 2 by making use of the chuck 19c and the movablearm 19a is moved along a rod 19d so that the cassette 2 is positionedabove a cleaning chamber 14a of a cleaning portion 14. Then, the movablearm 19a is extended to move the cassette 2 downwards to be immersed in acleaning solution 14b in the cleaning chamber 14a. Since the upper endof the cassette 2 is, at this time, substantially the same height of theupper end of the wafer 1 accommodated in the cassette 2, completeimmersion of the wafer 1 in the cleaning solution 14b causes the chuck19c to be immersed in the cleaning solution 14b.

The chuck 19c is then opened by the support arm 19b, and then themovable arm 19a is so retracted as to place the chuck 19c on standby ata position above the cleaning portion 14. After the wafer 1 has beenprocessed in the cleaning solution 14b, the movable arm 19a is againextended so that the cassette 2 in the cleaning solution 14b is held tobe taken out of the cleaning chamber 14a, followed by immersing thecassette 2 in a water cleaning solution 15b in a water cleaning chamber15a. During a period in which the wafer 1 is subjected to the watercleaning process in the water cleaning solution 15b, the chuck 19c is onstandby at a position above the wafter cleaning chamber 15a. After thewater cleaning process has been completed, the chuck 19c is used to takeout the cassette 2 in the water cleaning chamber 15a, and then thecassette 2 is set into a drying portion 16. During a period in which thewafer 1 is, together with the cassette 2, subjected to the dryingprocess to be performed in the drying portion 16, the chuck 19c is movedto a hand cleaning portion 13 by the movable arm 19a. In the handcleaning portion 13, the chuck 19c is cleaned and dried. Then, the chuck19c is used to hold the cleaning cassette 2 positioned in the dryingportion 16 and to be moved to a standby portion 17.

The cleaning cassette 2 accommodating the wafer 1 subjected to thecleaning process is moved from the standby portion 17 to the shiftingportion 12 by a cleaning cassette conveyance portion 18. In the shiftingportion 12, the wafer 1 is shifted from the cleaning cassette 2 to theproduct cassette before the wafer 1 is discharged to the loader/unloaderportion 11. It should be noted that the product cassette has a structuresimilar to that of the cleaning cassette 2.

However, a conventional cleaning apparatus of the type arranged asdescribed above is arranged such that the chuck 19c is immersed in thecleaning solution 14b and the water cleaning solution 15b whenever thecleaning cassette 2 is injected and ejected to and from the cleaningchamber 14a and the water cleaning chamber 15a. Therefore, the chuck 19cmust be cleaned and dried in the exclusive hand cleaning portion 13 inorder to take out the dried wafer 1 and the cassette 2 of the dryingportion 16. As an alternative to this, an exclusive conveyance portionhaving a chuck, which has been previously dried, must be disposed inorder to take out the cassette 2 of the drying portion 16. As a result,there arises a problem that the size of the cleaning apparatus cannot bereduced.

Since the portion 19 for conveying products to be cleaned continuouslyperforms the operation for conveying the cleaning cassette 2accommodating the wafer and the operation for cleaning and drying thecassette hand, the portion 19 for conveying products to be cleaned mustperform excessively heavy labor and the time taken to complete theoperation becomes too long. Therefore, another problem arises in thatthe performance of the cleaning apparatus deteriorates.

In the cleaning chamber 14a of the cleaning portion 14, the cleaningsolution 14b is heated and the raised temperature is maintained by aheater or the like to perform the process. If light etching isperformed, for example, SC1 (NH₄ OH+H₂ O₂ +H₂) is heated to 40° C. to50° C. and this level is maintained. If the resist is removed, forexample, sulfuric acid, water, and peroxide (H₂ SO₄ +H₂ O₂ +H₂ O) isheated to 140° C. to 150° C. and this level is maintained to perform thedesired process. Since the semiconductor cleaning apparatus is placed ina clean room, its atmospheric air temperature is controlled to, forexample, 25° C. Therefore, the cleaning solution 14b is evaporated fromthe surface as a chemical mist 14c which is, as shown in FIG. 93, thendiffused while wafting on an upflow 14d of a natural convectiongenerated on the surface of the cleaning solution 14b. In order toprevent this, a local exhaust duct 14e is locally disposed above thecleaning chamber 14a so that the chemical mist 14c wafting on the upflow14d of the natural convection is, together with the exhaust flow,sucked.

On the other hand, the conveyance robot of the conveyance portion 19 ismoved vertically while holding the cleaning cassette 2 with the cassettehand thereof to immerse the cleaning cassette 2 in the cleaning solution14 and ejecting the same from the cleaning solution 14b.

However, the local exhaust duct 14e cannot completely suck the upflow14d of the natural convection and the chemical mist 14c from the entireupper surface of the cleaning chamber 14a, resulting in that a portionof the chemical mist 14c outwards diffuses. When the cleaning cassette 2is taken out of the cleaning solution 14b, the cleaning cassette 2,which is wet with the cleaning solution 14b, is raised to an upperposition which is not affected by the local exhaust. Therefore, thechemical mist 14c is newly generated in the wet cleaning cassette 2, thechemical mist 14c thus-generated being then diffused. Therefore, thechemical mist 14c adheres the conveyance robot of the conveyance portionin the semiconductor cleaning apparatus. As a result, there ariseproblems in that the conveyance robot is corroded and that the adhesionof the chemical mist 14c to the product wafer causes defects.

Another problem arises in that the chemical mist 14c wafts on thecirculation flow in the clean room and diffuses and, accordingly, theequipment is corroded or the product wafer is defective.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to overcome the foregoing problemsand, accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide asemiconductor cleaning apparatus, the size of which can be reduced andwhich exhibits excellent processing performance.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductorcleaning apparatus capable of preventing diffusion of chemical mistgenerated in a cleaning portion and vapor generated in a drying portioninto the semiconductor cleaning apparatus or a clean room.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wafer cassettecapable of taking out a dry wafer from a drying portion while protectingthe wafer from being wetted even if no exclusive hand cleaning portionis provided.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a first aspect of thepresent invention comprises: a loader/unloader portion forinjecting/ejecting a product cassette which accommodates a wafer; aproduct injecting/ejecting portion for injecting/ejecting the wafer fromthe product cassette; a cleaning portion for cleaning the wafer; a watercleaning portion for, with water, cleaning the wafer which has beencleaned in the cleaning portion; a drying portion for drying the waferwhich has been cleaned with water in the water cleaning portion; and aconveyance portion having a wafer hand for directly holding the waferejected from the product cassette in the product injecting/ejectingportion and sequentially conveying the wafer held by the wafer hand tothe cleaning portion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a second aspect of thepresent invention comprises: a loader/unloader portion forinjecting/ejecting a product cassette which accommodates a wafer; acleaning cassette for accommodating the wafer and having handles formedabove the accommodated wafer; a shifting portion for shifting the waferbetween the product cassette received by the loader/unloader portion andthe cleaning cassette; a cleaning portion for, with a cleaning solution,cleaning the wafer accommodated in the cleaning cassette; a watercleaning portion for, with water, cleaning the wafer, which has beencleaned in the cleaning portion, while accommodating the wafer in thecleaning cassette; a drying portion for drying the wafer, which has beencleaned with water in the water cleaning portion, while accommodatingthe wafer in the cleaning cassette; and a conveyance portion which holdthe handles of the cleaning cassette to sequentially convey the cleaningcassette from the loader/unloader portion to the cleaning portion, thewater cleaning portion and the drying portion wherein the handles of thecleaning cassette are positioned above the levels of a cleaning solutionand cleaning water when the accommodated wafer is completely immersed inthe cleaning solution in the cleaning portion and cleaning water in thewater cleaning portion.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a third aspect of thepresent invention has an arrangement that the loader/unloader portionand the shifting portion are disposed in the widthwise direction of thecleaning apparatus, the conveyance portion is disposed in the centralportion of the cleaning apparatus in the longitudinal direction of thecleaning apparatus, and the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion are disposed on the two sides of the conveyanceportion.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a fourth aspect of thepresent invention has an arrangement that the loader/unloader portion,the shifting portion, the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion are disposed to form two lines and the conveyanceportion is disposed along the two-line configuration.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a fifth aspect of thepresent invention has an arrangement that the loader/unloader portion,the shifting portion, the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion are disposed around the conveyance portion.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a sixth aspect of thepresent invention comprises: a first air conditioning filter forsupplying clean air to the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion to form downflows at positions above the cleaningportion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion; a firstdischarge portion disposed in the vicinity of each chamber of thecleaning portion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion;temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of a cleaningsolution of the cleaning portion and/or the temperature of vapor in thedrying portion; and air supply pressure changing means for changing theair supply pressure of the first air conditioning filter in accordancewith the temperature detected by the temperature detection means.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a seventh aspect of thepresent invention comprises: a first air conditioning filter forsupplying clean air to the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion to form downflows at positions above the cleaningportion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion; a firstdischarge portion disposed in the vicinity of each chamber of thecleaning portion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion; apanel above chambers which covers the portions above the cleaningportion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion, which hasopenings immediately above the chambers and which has the peripheralportion having a multiplicity of small apertures connected to the firstdischarge portion; and a drain receiver disposed below the multiplesmall apertures of the panel above chambers.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to an eighth aspect of thepresent invention comprises: a first air conditioning filter forsupplying clean air to the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion to form downflows at positions above the cleaningportion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion; a firstdischarge portion disposed in the vicinity of each chamber of thecleaning portion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion; afirst heat exchanger for cooling air to be supplied from the first airconditioning filter to the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion; and a first refrigerator for supplying a coolingmedium to the first heat exchanger, wherein air cooled in the first heatexchanger and upflows of natural convections of vapor generated in acleaning chamber of the cleaning portion or a vapor chamber of thedrying portion are made conflict with each other at a position adjacentto the top end of the cleaning chamber or the vapor chamber to condensesteam in cooled air and generate water mist.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a ninth aspect of thepresent invention comprises: a first air conditioning filter forsupplying clean air to the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion to form downflows at positions above the cleaningportion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion; a firstdischarge portion disposed in the vicinity of each chamber of thecleaning portion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion; anda double-fluid nozzle, which sprays pure water while using clear air orinactive gas as a second fluid, to generate pure-water mist to be mixedinto downflows.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a tenth aspect of thepresent invention comprises: air curtain blowing means having a blowingout port formed above the cleaning chamber of the cleaning portion and avapor chamber of the drying portion along one side of the chamber andarranged to blow out, in the horizontal direction, an air curtain, whichis equal in the widthwise direction, from the blowing out port towardanother side of the chamber; air curtain discharge means having asuction port equally formed in the widthwise direction of another sideof the cleaning chamber of the cleaning portion and the vapor chamber ofthe drying portion to discharge the air curtain sucked through thesuction port; and rectifying means disposed in the blowing out port ofthe air curtain blowing means, arranged to blow out the air curtain toform a layer flow and having a length in the direction of the passagewhich is gradually shortened in proportion to the distance from thecleaning chamber and the vapor chamber to form a velocity distributionin which the flowing velocity is gradually raised in inverse proportionto the distance from the chamber.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to an eleventh aspect ofthe present invention comprises: air curtain blowing means having ablowing out port formed above the cleaning chamber of the cleaningportion and a vapor chamber of the drying portion along one side of thechamber and arranged to blow out, in the horizontal direction, an aircurtain, which is equal in the widthwise direction, from the blowing outport toward another side of the chamber; air curtain discharge meanshaving a suction port equally formed in the widthwise direction ofanother side of the cleaning chamber of the cleaning portion and thevapor chamber of the drying portion to discharge the air curtain suckedthrough the suction port; temperature detection means for detecting thetemperature of a cleaning solution of the cleaning portion and/or thetemperature of vapor in the drying portion; and air conditioning filtersupply pressure changing means for changing the pressure of air to besupplied from the first air conditioning filter in accordance with thetemperature detected by the temperature detection means.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a twelfth aspect of thepresent invention comprises: air curtain blowing means having a blowingout port formed above the cleaning chamber of the cleaning portion and avapor chamber of the drying portion along one side of the chamber andarranged to blow out, in the horizontal direction, an air curtain, whichis equal in the widthwise direction, from the blowing out port towardanother side of the chamber; air curtain discharge means having asuction port equally formed in the widthwise direction of another sideof the cleaning chamber of the cleaning portion and the vapor chamber ofthe drying portion to discharge the air curtain sucked through thesuction port; a second heat exchanger for cooling air blown out from theair curtain blowing means; and a second refrigerator for supplying acooling medium to the second heat exchanger, wherein air cooled in thesecond heat exchanger and upflows of natural convections of vaporgenerated in a cleaning chamber of the cleaning portion or a vaporchamber of the drying portion are made conflict with each other at aposition adjacent to the top end of the cleaning chamber or the vaporchamber to condense steam in cooled air and generate water mist.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a thirteenth aspect ofthe present invention comprises: air curtain blowing means having ablowing out port formed above the cleaning chamber of the cleaningportion and a vapor chamber of the drying portion along one side of thechamber and arranged to blow out, in the horizontal direction, an aircurtain, which is equal in the widthwise direction, from the blowing outport toward another side of the chamber; air curtain discharge meanshaving a suction port equally formed in the widthwise direction ofanother side of the cleaning chamber of the cleaning portion and thevapor chamber of the drying portion to discharge the air curtain suckedthrough the suction port; and a double-fluid nozzle, which sprays purewater while using clear air or inactive gas as a second fluid, togenerate pure-water mist to be mixed into the air curtain blown out fromthe air curtain blowing means.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a fourteenth aspect ofthe present invention comprises: a second air conditioning filter forsupplying clean air to the conveyance portion; and a second dischargeportion for discharging air from the conveyance portion.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a fifteenth aspect ofthe present invention comprises: a gas supply portion which suppliesgaseous fluid into the conveyance portion through a gap between any oneof the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portion or the dryingportion and the conveyance portion to make the pressure in theconveyance portion to be positive; and a fourth discharge portion fordischarging a portion of the gas supplied from the gas supply portionfrom the lower portion of the conveyance portion.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a sixteenth aspect ofthe present invention comprises: a fifth discharge portion fordischarging air from the end of the locus of the conveyance portion.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a seventeenth aspect ofthe present invention comprises: an outer wall of the cleaning apparatusfor covering each of the portions; and a sixth discharge portion fordischarging air between any one of the cleaning portion, the watercleaning portion and the drying portion and the outer wall.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to an eighteenth aspect ofthe present invention comprises: a sealed chamber for sealing thecleaning portion, the water cleaning portion, the drying portion and theconveyance portion; and a window structure for injecting/ejecting thewafer ejected from the product cassette in the shifting portion to andfrom the sealed chamber.

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a nineteenth aspect ofthe present invention comprises: a first air conditioning filter forsupplying clean air to the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portionand the drying portion; a first discharge portion disposed in thevicinity of each chamber of the cleaning portion, the water cleaningportion and the drying portion; and a demistor connected to the firstdischarge portion and arranged to remove chemical mist and dried vapormixed into discharged air.

A wafer cassette according to the present invention is a cleaning wafercassette for accommodating a plurality of wafers to immerse them intoeach solution chamber of a cleaning apparatus, the wafer cassettecomprising: an accommodating portion for accommodating a plurality ofwafers; and a handle portion formed at a position higher than the liquidlevel in the solution chamber when the cleaning wafer cassette is set ineach of the solution chambers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram which illustrates the overall structure of acleaning apparatus according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view which illustrates the structure of aproduct injecting/ejecting portion according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively are cross sectional views which illustrate acleaning chamber and a drying chamber according to the first embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram which illustrates the overall structure of acleaning apparatus according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view which illustrates a wafer cassette for usein the second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view which illustrates a state where the wafercassette shown in FIG. 6 is held by a cassette hand;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view which illustrates an essential portion ofFIG. 7;

FIGS. 9 and 10 respectively are cross sectional views which illustratestates where the wafer cassette shown in FIG. 6 is set in a cleaningchamber and a drying chamber;

FIGS. 11 and 12 respectively are block diagrams which illustrate theoverall structure of a cleaning apparatus according to a thirdembodiment and a fourth embodiment;

FIGS. 13 and 14 respectively are a plan view and a front elevationalview which illustrate a cleaning apparatus according to a fifthembodiment;

FIGS. 15 to 17 respectively are plan views which illustrate cleaningapparatuses according to sixth to eighth embodiments;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram which illustrates a cleaning apparatusaccording to a ninth embodiment;

FIGS. 19 to 25 respectively are block diagrams which illustratemodifications of the ninth embodiment;

FIG. 26 is a block diagram which illustrates a cleaning apparatusaccording to a tenth embodiment;

FIGS. 27 to 29 respectively are block diagrams which illustratemodifications of the tenth embodiment;

FIG. 30 is a block diagram which illustrates the structure of aconveyance control system according to an eleventh embodiment;

FIG. 31 is a plan view which illustrates a cleaning apparatus forexplaining the operation of the eleventh embodiment;

FIG. 32 is a block diagram which illustrates a modification of theeleventh embodiment;

FIG. 33 is a cross sectional view which illustrates a cleaning chamberand a water cleaning chamber according to a twelfth embodiment and athirteenth embodiment;

FIGS. 34 and 35 respectively are cross sectional views which illustratea water cleaning chamber according to a fourteenth embodiment and afifteenth embodiment;

FIG. 36 is a cross sectional view which illustrates a drying chamberaccording to a sixteenth embodiment;

FIG. 37 is a cross sectional view which illustrates a state where thewafer and the wafer hand are being dried in the drying chamber shown inFIG. 36;

FIG. 38 illustrates a robot for use in a cleaning apparatus according toa eighteenth embodiment;

FIG. 39 is a detailed drawing of FIG. 38;

FIG. 40 is a perspective view which illustrates a wafer hand accordingto a nineteenth embodiment;

FIG. 41 is a front elevational view which illustrates a wafer supportrod of the wafer hand shown in FIG. 40;

FIG. 42 is a cross sectional view taken along line 42--42 of FIG. 41;

FIGS. 43 and 44 respectively are cross sectional views which illustratea wafer support rod according to modifications;

FIGS. 45 and 46 respectively are a side elevational view and a frontelevational view which illustrate a wafer cassette according to atwentieth embodiment;

FIG. 47 is a cross sectional view which illustrates a state where thewafer cassette according to the twentieth embodiment is set in thecleaning chamber;

FIG. 48 is a perspective view which illustrates a wafer cassetteaccording to a twenty-first embodiment;

FIG. 49 is a perspective view which illustrates an exclusive glove foruse in a cleaning apparatus according to a twenty-second embodiment;

FIG. 50 is a perspective view which illustrates a cassette hand to whichthe exclusive glove shown in FIG. 49 is fastened;

FIG. 51 illustrates a cleaning process to be performed in a case wherethe exclusive glove according to the twenty-second embodiment is used;

FIG. 52 is a perspective view which illustrates an exclusive gloveaccording to a modification of the twenty-second embodiment;

FIG. 53 illustrates another cleaning process to be performed in a casewhere the exclusive glove according to the twenty-second embodiment isused;

FIGS. 54 and 55 respectively are an exploded perspective view and aperspective view which illustrate a cassette hand according to atwenty-third embodiment;

FIG. 56 illustrates a cleaning process to be performed in a case wherethe cassette hand according to a twenty-third embodiment is used;

FIGS. 57 to 59 respectively are a plan view, a front elevational viewand a side elevational view which illustrate a semiconductor cleaningapparatus according to a twenty-fourth embodiment;

FIG. 60 is a cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedinternal structure of the cleaning apparatus according to thetwenty-fourth embodiment;

FIG. 61 is a cross sectional view which illustrates a cleaning apparatusaccording to a twenty-fifth embodiment;

FIG. 62 illustrates a control sequence for controlling the cleaningapparatus according to the twenty-fifth embodiment;

FIG. 63 illustrates a control sequence according to a modification ofthe twenty-fifth embodiment;

FIG. 64 is a cross sectional view which illustrates a portion includinga cleaning chamber according to a twenty-sixth embodiment;

FIG. 65 is a cross sectional view which illustrates a portion includinga cleaning chamber according to a twenty-seventh embodiment;

FIG. 66 is a graph which illustrates the relationship between thetemperature and pressure of wet air and humidity;

FIG. 67 is a schematic view which illustrates a state where chemicalmist is trapped by water mist in a twenty-seventh embodiment;

FIGS. 68 to 73 respectively are cross sectional views which illustratethe structure of a portion including a cleaning chamber according totwenty-eighth embodiment to thirty-third embodiments;

FIGS. 74 to 76 respectively are cross sectional views which illustratethe inside portion of a cleaning apparatus according to thirty-fourth tothirty-sixth embodiment;

FIG. 77 is a perspective view which illustrates a portion including aninsulating wall of the cleaning apparatus according to the thirty-sixthembodiment;

FIG. 78 is a cross sectional view which illustrates the inside portionof a cleaning apparatus according to a thirty-seventh embodiment;

FIGS. 79 and 80 respectively are a cross sectional view and a plan viewwhich illustrate a cleaning apparatus according to a thirty-eighthembodiment:

FIG. 81 is a cross sectional view which illustrates the inside portionof a cleaning apparatus according to a thirty-ninth embodiment;

FIG. 82 is a perspective view which illustrates a window structure of acleaning apparatus according to a fortieth embodiment;

FIGS. 83 and 84 respectively are a plan view and a front elevationalview which illustrate a cleaning apparatus according to a forty-firstembodiment;

FIGS. 85 and 86 respectively are a plan view and a front elevationalview which illustrate a cleaning apparatus according to a forty-secondembodiment;

FIG. 87 illustrates a state where the cleaning apparatus according tothe forty-second embodiment is used;

FIG. 88 is a perspective view which illustrates a load locking chamberof a cleaning apparatus according to a forty-third embodiment;

FIG. 89 is a cross sectional view which illustrates the inside portionof a cleaning apparatus according to a forty-fourth embodiment;

FIG. 90 is a block diagram which illustrates the overall structure of aconventional semiconductor cleaning apparatus;

FIG. 91 is a perspective view which illustrates a conventional wafercassette and a cassette hand;

FIG. 92 illustrates a cleaning process adapted to the cleaning apparatusshown in FIG. 90; and

FIG. 93 is a cross sectional view which illustrates a cleaning portionof the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 90.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the drawings.

FIRST EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the structure of a semiconductorcleaning apparatus 5A according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention. In the longitudinal direction of a portion 35 for conveyingproducts to be cleaned, the following elements are sequentiallydisposed: a loader/unloader portion 11A; a product injecting/ejectingportion 31A; a cleaning portion 32A; a water cleaning portion 33A; and adrying portion 34A. As shown in FIG. 2, the product injecting/ejectingportion 31A has a support frame 31a for supporting a product cassette 4and a wafer injecting/ejecting jig 31b capable of moving vertically. Theproduct cassette 4 has a plurality of grooves 4a for holding the wafers1 and having an opened lower portion. The structure is so arranged thatthe wafer injecting/ejecting jig 31b of the product injecting/ejectingportion 31A can be vertically injected/ejected through the openingportion. The wafer injecting/ejecting jig 31b has, on the upper surfacethereof, a plurality of grooves 31c for holding the wafers 1.

The structure of the cleaning portion 32A is shown in FIG. 3. A cleaningchamber 32a includes a wafer receiver 32b formed therein. The waferreceiver 32b has a plurality of grooves (omitted from illustration)formed therein, the grooves being arranged to receive the edges of theinserted wafers 1 so that the wafers 1 are held. Also the water cleaningportion 33A has a structure similar to that of the cleaning portion 32Ashown in FIG. 3.

The structure of the drying portion 34A is shown in FIG. 4. A dryingchamber 34a includes an isopropylalcohol (hereinafter called "IPA")recovery chamber 34b so that a double structure is formed. A condensingcoil 34c is disposed along the inner wall of the upper portion of thedrying chamber 34a, while a heater 34e for heating and evaporating theIPA 34d accommodated in the drying chamber 34a is disposed under thedrying chamber 34a. Further, a discharge pipe 34f for discharging theIPA recovered into the IPA recovery chamber 34b is connected to the IPArecovery chamber 34b.

The operation of the first embodiment will now be described. First, theproduct cassette 4 accommodating the plural wafers 1, which have notbeen cleaned, is injected into the loader/unloader portion 11a. Theproduct cassette 4 is moved to the product injecting/ejecting portion31A by a conveyance robot (omitted from illustration), and then theproduct cassette 4 is placed on the support frame 31a as shown in FIG.2. When the wafer injecting/ejecting jig 31b is, in this state, movedupwards, the edge of each wafer 1 is inserted into the groove 31c of thewafer injecting/ejecting jig 31b. As a result, the plural wafers 1 areheld, and the wafers 1 are pushed upwards from the product cassette 4.Then, the plural wafers 1 are held by a wafer hand 35a of the portion 35for conveying the products to be cleaned to be moved from the productinjecting/producing portion 31A to the cleaning portion 32A. Then, theplural wafers 1 are sent to the wafer receiver 32b in the cleaningchamber 32a shown in FIG. 3. After the wafers 1 have been cleaned in thecleaning portion 32A, the wafers 1 are, by the wafer hand 35a, sent fromthe cleaning portion 32A to the wafer receiver of the water cleaningportion 33A to be cleaned with water in the water cleaning portion 33A.

Then, the wafers 1 are sent from the water cleaning portion 33A to thedrying portion 34A in such a manner that the IPA 34d accommodated in thebottom portion of the drying chamber 34a is previously heated andevaporated by the heater 34e shown in FIG. 4 and a refrigerant issupplied into the condensing coil 34c to previously cool the atmosphereof the upper portion of the drying chamber 34a. As a result, the vaporof the IPA 34d raised from the bottom portion of the drying chamber 34ais cooled and condensed in a portion adjacent to the condensing coil 34cand, accordingly, the IPA 34d is returned to the bottom portion of thedrying chamber 34a. As described above, divergence of the IPA 34d to theoutside of the drying chamber 34a is prevented, but the drying chamber34a is filled with the evaporated IPA 34d.

Then, the wafers 1, which have been cleaned with water in the watercleaning portion 33A, and on the surface of which water is left, areheld in the recovery chamber 34 while being held by the wafer hand 35a.As a result, the vapor of the IPA 34d, which is in contact with thesurface of the wafer 1, is cooled and liquefied by the wafer 1 to bemixed with water left on the surface of the wafer 1. As a result, waterdroplets on the surface of the wafer 1 are gradually enlarged becausethe water droplets contain a large quantity of IPA, and then moveddownwards along the surface of the wafer 1 until the water droplets dropinto the recovery chamber 34b. At this time, foreign matter adhered tothe surface of the wafer 1 drops together with the water droplets. Thewater droplets dropped into the recovery chamber 34b pass through adischarge pipe 34f to be discharged to the outside of the drying chamber34a. Thus, water on the surface of the wafer 1 is gradually replaced bythe IPA. The temperature of the surface of the wafer 1 is graduallyraised until it is the same as that of vapor of the IPA 34d. Therefore,the IPA adhered to the surface of the wafer 1 in place of water isevaporated.

After drying has been completed, the portion 35 for conveying theproducts to be cleaned moves the wafers 1 from the drying portion 34A tothe producing injecting/ejecting portion 31A by the wafer hand 35athereof so that the wafers 1 are inserted into the product cassette 4placed on the support frame 31a. Then, the product cassette 4 isdischarged to the loader/unloader portion 11A by a conveyance robot(omitted from illustration).

When the wafers 1 are cleaned with water in the water cleaning portion33A, the wafer hand 35a is also cleaned with water in the water cleaningchamber. When the wafers 1 are cleaned in the cleaning portion 32A, thewafer hand 35a may simultaneously be cleaned. However, cleaning of thewafer hand 35a may be omitted.

Since the foregoing first embodiment is so arranged that no cleaningcassette is used at the time of cleaning, water cleaning and drying thewafers, the width of each of the cleaning portion 32A, the watercleaning portion 33A and the drying portion 34A can be shortened byabout 15% as compared with the widths of the corresponding portions ofthe conventional structure. Further, the cleaning cassette standbyportion of the conventional semiconductor cleaning apparatus can beomitted, so that the overall length of the cleaning apparatus can beshortened by about 30%.

SECOND EMBODIMENT

The structure of a cassette-type semiconductor cleaning apparatus 5Baccording to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown inFIG. 5. In the longitudinal direction of a cleaning cassette conveyanceportion 25, the following elements are sequentially disposed: aloader/unloader portion 11B; a shifting portion 31B; a cleaning portion32B; a water cleaning portion 33B; and a drying portion 34B. In contrastwith the first embodiment in which the cassette-less cleaning apparatusis structured in which the wafer 1 is directly held and conveyed by thewafer hand 35a, the second embodiment is arranged in such a manner thata cleaning cassette 20 structured as shown in FIG. 6 is used to enablethe wafer 1 to be set in the cleaning chamber and the water cleaningchamber without wetting the chuck of the cassette hand with the cleaningsolution and cleaning water.

The cleaning cassette 20 has height H which is sufficiently higher thanthe height, that is, the diameter of the wafer 1 to be accommodated inthe cleaning cassette 20. The plural wafers 1 are, in the shiftingportion 31B, shifted from the product cassette to the cleaning cassette20, and then the wafers 1 are, as shown in FIG. 7, held by the cassettehand of the cleaning cassette conveyance portion 25 to be sequentiallymoved to the cleaning portion 32B, the water cleaning portion 33B andthe drying portion 34B.

The cassette hand of the cleaning cassette conveyance portion 25comprises a chuck support arm 25b connected to a movable arm 25a, and achuck 25c supported by the chuck support arm 25b. As shown in FIG. 8,the chuck 25c has recesses 25d formed therein and accordingly, insertionof handles 20a of the cleaning cassette 20 into the recesses 25d causesthe cleaning cassette 20 to be held by the cassette hand.

Since the cleaning cassette 20 has the height H, which is sufficientlyhigher than the wafer 1, the handles 20a disposed at the top end of thecleaning cassette 20 are positioned higher than the liquid level of acleaning solution 32m as shown in FIG. 9 when the cleaning cassette 20is, by making use of the cassette hand of the cleaning cassetteconveyance portion 25, set in a cleaning chamber 32k of the cleaningportion 32B to completely immerse the wafer 1 in the cleaning solution32m. Therefore, the chuck 25c of the cassette hand for holding thehandles 20a of the cleaning cassette 20 is not wetted with the cleaningsolution 32m. When the cleaning cassette 20 is similarly set in thewater cleaning portion 33B, wetting of the chuck 25c with cleaning watercan be prevented although the wafer 1 is completely immersed in thecleaning water.

After the water cleaning process has been completed, the wafer 1 is,together with the cleaning cassette 20, dried in the drying portion 34Bas shown in FIG. 10. The drying portion 34B has the double structurecomposed of a drying chamber 34k and an IPA recovery chamber 34qsimilarly to the drying portion 34A shown in FIG. 4. Further, acondensing coil 34m is disposed along the inner wall of the upperportion of the drying chamber 34k, while a heater 34r for heatingaccommodated IPA 34n is disposed under the drying chamber 34k. Further,a discharge pipe for discharging the IPA accommodated in the IPArecovery chamber 34q is connected to the IPA recovery chamber 34q.

Since this embodiment is so arranged that chuck 25c of the cassette handis not wetted with the cleaning solution 32m or cleaning water asdescribed above, the chuck 25 can be used as it is to take out the driedcleaning cassette 20 of the drying portion 34B. That is, an exclusivehand cleaning portion for cleaning and drying the cassette hand can beomitted from the structure, resulting in a small-size cleaningapparatus.

THIRD EMBODIMENT

FIG. 11 illustrates the structure of a semiconductor cleaning apparatusaccording to a third embodiment. In the longitudinal direction of acleaning product conveyance portion 35, the following elements aresequentially disposed: a loader/unloader portion 11A, a productinjecting/ejecting portion 31A; a wafer retaining frame 200A; a cleaningportion 32A; a water cleaning portion 33A; and a drying portion 34A. Thecleaning product conveyance portion 35 sequentially conveys the wafer inan order as: the product injecting/ejecting portion 31A; the cleaningportion 32A; the water cleaning portion 33A; and the drying portion 34A.In order to sequentially perform the conveyance, the portion which thenreceives the wafer must have no wafer. That is, the wafer can beconveyed only in a case where at least any one of the productinjecting/ejecting portion 31A, the cleaning portion 32A and the dryingportion 34A has no wafer.

However, the process to be performed in the cleaning portion 32A is soarranged that the processing time is strictly controlled and has noarrangement that the state of empty in the ensuing water cleaningportion 33A is confirmed to commence the cleaning process in order toimprove the processing performance. Accordingly, the third embodimentcomprises the wafer retaining frame 200A to overcome a problem raised inthat the wafers cannot be conveyed sequentially for some reason orother, such as trouble in the product injecting/ejecting portion 31A orthe drying portion 34A. If the wafers cannot be conveyed sequentially,the wafer set in the water cleaning portion 33A is first laid aside onto the wafer retaining frame 200A, and then the wafer subjected to thecleaning process in the cleaning portion 32A is sent to the watercleaning portion.

If the wafer retaining frame 200A is provided with a water cleaningfunction, the wafer immersed in the cleaning solution can be directlylaid aside from the cleaning portion 32A to the wafer retaining frame200A in an abnormal case in which the wafers cannot be conveyedsequentially. The water cleaning function may be realized by, forexample, a structure in which pure water is sprayed against the wafer ora structure in which the wafer is immersed in the water cleaning chamberarranged similarly to the water cleaning portion 33A. By providing thewater cleaning function as described above, the wafer to which thecleaning solution adheres can be, on the wafer retaining frame, cleanedwith water. As a result, continuation of the cleaning process can beprevented.

FOURTH EMBODIMENT

A cassette-type cleaning apparatus having a cassette retaining frame200B similarly to the third embodiment is shown in FIG. 12. If troublehas occurred in a shifting portion 31B or a drying portion 34B or thelike so that the wafers cannot sequentially be conveyed, the cleaningcassette set in the water cleaning portion 33B is laid aside on to thecassette retaining frame 200B, and then the wafer subjected to thecleaning process in the cleaning portion 32B is, together with thecleaning cassette, conveyed to the water cleaning portion 33B.

If the cassette retaining frame 200B is provided with a water cleaningfunction, the wafer immersed in the cleaning solution can be directlylaid aside from the cleaning portion 32B to the wafer retaining frame200B in an abnormal case in which the wafers cannot be conveyedsequentially.

FIFTH EMBODIMENT

The overall structure of a cleaning apparatus so arranged that the wafer1 is, by handling, cleaned, according to a fifth embodiment is shown inFIG. 13. The cleaning apparatus comprises a main processing portion 50for performing the steps of the cleaning process and a loader/unloaderportion 51. A conveyance portion 58 is disposed in the central portionof the main processing portion 50 in the longitudinal direction of thecleaning apparatus. The conveyance portion 58 is provided with aconveyance robot having a movement shaft in the longitudinal directionof the cleaning apparatus and a rotational shaft for rotating a waferhand. The structure of the robot is shown in detail in FIGS. 38 and 39,to be described below. On the two sides of the conveyance portion 58, awafer retaining frame 52, a cleaning chamber 53a of the cleaning portion53, water cleaning chambers 54a and 55a of the water cleaning portions54 and 55 and a drying chamber 56a of the drying portion 56 are disposedin the longitudinal direction of the cleaning apparatus to form twolines. Examples of the structure of the cleaning chamber 53a and thewater cleaning chambers 54a and 55a are described below with respect toFIGS. 33 and 34. A loader/unloader portion 51 is disposed at an endportion of the conveyance portion in a direction of the width of thecleaning apparatus to have a long distance, the loader/unloader portion51 having six product cassette retaining frames and one wafer retainingframe so that six product cassettes and a batch of wafers 1 taken out ofthe product cassette can be placed in the loader/unloader portion 51.Further, a robot 57 for shifting the wafers 1 between the productcassette 22 placed in the loader/unloader portion 51 and the waferretaining frame 51a is disposed adjacent to the loader/unloader portion51.

FIG. 14 is a front elevational view which illustrates the cleaningapparatus and in which reference numeral 58a represents a wafer hand ofthe conveyance portion 58.

The operation of the cleaning apparatus according to the fifthembodiment will now be described. The product cassette 22 accommodatingthe wafer 1 is placed in the product cassette retaining frame of theloader/unloader portion 51. The robot 57 takes out the wafer 1 from theproduct cassette 22 to shift the wafer 1 to the wafer retaining frame51a. The wafer 1 thus-shifted is held by the wafer hand 58a of theconveyance portion 58 to be shifted to the wafer retaining frame 55 inwhich the wafer 1 is on standby. Then, the conveyance portion 58 setsthe wafer 1 into the cleaning chamber 53a of the cleaning portion 53.After the wafer 1 has been subjected to a predetermined cleaningprocess, the conveyance portion 58 sets the wafer 1 into the watercleaning chamber 54a of the water cleaning portion 54. After apredetermined water cleaning process has been completed, the conveyanceportion 58 sends the wafer 1 into the water cleaning chamber 55a of thewater cleaning portion 55 to clean the wafer 1 with water. Bysequentially performing the water cleaning processes in the two watercleaning chambers 54a and 55a, the time required to complete the watercleaning process can be shortened and an assured water cleaning effectcan be expected.

The conveyance portion 58 sets the wafer 1 subjected to the watercleaning process into the drying chamber 56a of the drying portion 56 tosubject the wafer 1 to the drying process. After drying has beencompleted, the conveyance portion 58 takes out the wafer from the dryingchamber 56a to shift the wafer 1 on to the wafer retaining frame 51 ofthe loader/unloader portion 51. The robot 57 holds the wafer 1 placed onthe wafer retaining frame 51a to shift the wafer 1 to an empty productcassette placed on the product cassette retaining frame.

Although the fifth embodiment is arranged as a cassette-less cleaningapparatus for directly handling the wafer 1, disposition of a wafercassette retaining frame in place of each of the wafer retaining frames51a and 52 and use of a cassette hand in place of the wafer hand in theconveyance portion 58 enables a cassette-type cleaning apparatus to havea similar layout. In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, the conveyanceportion 58 transports a cleaning cassette 21 having handles inside themain processing portion 50 as the wafers in the cleaning cassette 21 arecleaned.

SIXTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 15 illustrates the overall structure of a cleaning apparatusaccording to a sixth embodiment. A wafer retaining frame 52 and acleaning chamber 53a are disposed on one side of a conveyance portion58. Further, a second water cleaning chamber 55a and a drying chamber56a are disposed on the residual side of the conveyance portion 58. Inaddition, a first water cleaning chamber 54a is disposed on the locus ofrotation of the wafer hand of the conveyance portion 58. By disposingone of the plural units forming the cleaning apparatus on the locus ofthe rotation of the wafer hand of the conveyance portion 58 as describedabove, a small-size cleaning apparatus having the same number of unitsas that of the cleaning apparatus according to the fifth embodimentshown in FIGS. 13 and 14 can be realized.

Also in the sixth embodiment, disposition of the wafer cassetteretaining frame in place of each of the wafer retaining frames 51a and52 and use of the cassette hand in place of the wafer hand in theconveyance portion 58 enable a cassette-type cleaning apparatus to beformed to have a similar layout.

SEVENTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 16 illustrates the overall structure of a cleaning apparatusaccording to a seventh embodiment. A wafer retaining frame 52, a secondwater cleaning chamber 55a and a first water cleaning chamber 54a aredisposed on one side of a conveyance portion 58. Further, a cleaningchamber 53a and a drying chamber 56a are disposed on the residual sideof the conveyance portion 58. The conveyance portion 58 has asemicircular locus R1 of rotation of a wafer hand passing through awafer retaining frame 51a of a loader/unloader portion 51 and asemicircular locus R2 of rotation of the wafer hand passing through thecleaning chamber 53a and the first water cleaning chamber 54a and facingthe loader/unloader portion 51.

Since the rotation loci R1 and R2 of the wafer hand of the conveyanceportion 58 are set to face the loader/unloader portion 51, a small-sizecleaning apparatus can be realized.

Also in the seventh embodiment, disposition of the wafer cassetteretaining frame in place of each of the wafer retaining frames 51a and52 and use of the cassette hand in place of the wafer hand in theconveyance portion 58 enable a cassette-type cleaning apparatus to beformed to have a similar layout.

EIGHTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 17 illustrates the overall structure of a cleaning apparatusaccording to an eighth embodiment. The cleaning apparatus according tothis embodiment uses three chemical solutions to clean the wafer 1. Onthe two sides of a conveyance portion 78 of a main processing portion70, a wafer retaining frame 72, a first cleaning chamber 73a, a firstwater cleaning chamber 74a, a second cleaning chamber 73b, a secondwater cleaning chamber 74b, a third cleaning chamber 73c, a third watercleaning chamber 74c, a water cleaning chamber 75 and a drying chamber76 are disposed in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning apparatusto form two lines. Further, a shifting robot 77 is disposed in an endportion of the conveyance portion 78, and a loader/unloader portion 71is disposed adjacent to the shifting robot 77. The first to thirdcleaning chambers 73a to 73c respectively accommodate different chemicalsolutions.

The operation of the eighth embodiment will now be described. A productcassette 22 accommodating the wafer 1 is placed on a product retainingframe of the loader/unloader portion 71. The shifting robot 77 takes outthe wafer 1 of the product cassette 22 to shift the wafer 1 to the waferretaining frame 71a of the loader/unloader portion 71. The wafer 1thus-shifted is held by the wafer hand of the conveyance portion 78 tobe shifted to the wafer retaining frame 72 in which the wafer 1 is onstandby. Then, the conveyance portion 78 sets the wafer 1 into the firstcleaning chamber 73a. After the wafer 1 has been subjected to apredetermined cleaning process, the conveyance portion 78 sets the wafer1 into the first water cleaning chamber 74a. After a predetermined watercleaning process has been completed, the conveyance portion 78 shiftsthe wafer 1 to the second cleaning chamber 73b to subject the wafer 1 toa predetermined cleaning process. Further, the conveyance portion 78shifts the wafer 1 to the second water cleaning chamber 74b. Similarly,the wafer 1 is sequentially shifted to the third cleaning chamber 73cand the third water cleaning chamber 74c so that the cleaning processesusing the three chemical solutions are sequentially completed.

Then, the conveyance portion 78 takes out the wafer 1 of the third watercleaning chamber 74c to set the wafer 1 into the final water cleaningchamber 75 to perform a predetermined water cleaning process. Theconveyance portion 78 sets the wafer cleaned with water in apredetermined manner into the drying chamber 76. Thus, the dryingprocess is performed. After drying has been completed, the conveyanceportion 78 takes out the wafer 1 of the drying chamber 76 to shift thewafer 1 on to the wafer retaining frame 71a of the loader/unloaderportion 71. The shifting robot 77 holds the wafer 1 placed on the waferretaining frame 71a to shift the wafer 1 to an empty product cassetteplaced on the product cassette retaining frame.

Although the description is about a structure in which only wafers 1 ofonly one lot are present in the cleaning apparatus, wafers 1 of plurallots may be present in the cleaning apparatus and each unit may processthe corresponding wafer.

Also in the eighth embodiment, disposition of the wafer cassetteretaining frame in place of each of the wafer retaining frames 71a and72 and use of the cassette hand in place of the wafer hand in theconveyance portion 78 enable a cassette-type cleaning apparatus to beformed to have a similar layout.

NINTH EMBODIMENT

A semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to this embodiment does notneed to have the following units along one straight line: theloader/unloader portion 11A; the product injecting/ejecting portion 31A;the cleaning portion 32A; the water cleaning portion 33A and the dryingportion 34A. A cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 18 is, for example,arranged so that a product conveyance portion 351 is connected to aproduct injecting/ejecting portion 311A disposed in parallel to theloader/unloader portion 111, and the water cleaning portion 331 and thecleaning portion 321 are disposed to face each other while interposingthe product conveyance portion 351. Similarly, the water cleaningportion 332 and the cleaning portion 322 are disposed to face eachother, and the water cleaning portion 333 and the drying portion 341 aredisposed to face each other. As described above, the plural cleaningportions and plural water cleaning portions are sometimes requireddepending upon the cleaning process. By employing the configurationshown in FIG. 18, the overall length of the semiconductor cleaningapparatus can be shortened. In particular, the disposition is made suchthat the cleaning portion in which a chemical solution is used and thewater cleaning portion in which water cleaning is performed face eachother to eliminate an adverse influence of the vapor of the chemicalsolution generated in the cleaning portion upon the other unit.

Another configuration shown in FIG. 19 may be employed in which theloader/unloader portion 112 and the product injecting/ejecting portion311A face the drying portion 341 while interposing the productconveyance portion 351, the water cleaning portion 331 faces thecleaning portion 321, and the water cleaning portion 332 face thecleaning portion 322. As a result of the configuration thus-made, theoverall length of the cleaning apparatus can be shortened.

Other structures as shown in FIG. 20 and 21 may be employed in which theproduct conveyance portion 351 is disposed on either side of the twolines of units in place of the central portion.

Each of the cleaning apparatuses shown in FIGS. 18 to 21 is thecassette-less type cleaning apparatus for directly handling the wafer 1by the wafer hand thereof. Other structures shown in FIGS. 22 to 25 maybe employed for the cleaning apparatus in which a shifting portion 311Bis disposed in place of the product injecting/ejecting portion 311A anda cleaning cassette conveyance portion 251 is disposed in place of theproduct conveyance portion 351. In each case, a cassette-type cleaningapparatus having a similar layout can be structured.

TENTH EMBODIMENT

Another configuration may be employed in which the loader/unloaderportion 111, the product injecting/ejecting portion 311A, the cleaningportion 321, the water cleaning portion 331 and the drying portion 341are disposed around the product conveyance portion 352 as shown in FIG.26. The product conveyance portion 352 comprises a rotatable arm toshift the wafer to each surrounding unit. Although the structure shownin FIG. 26 has the arrangement that the four units are disposed aroundthe product conveyance portion 352, the structure is not limited tothis. For example, a configuration shown in FIG. 27 may be employed inwhich five units including the second water cleaning portion 332 aredisposed around the product conveyance portion 352. As a result of theconfiguration shown in FIG. 26 or 27, the area of the product conveyanceportion 352 can be reduced, and the overall length of the cleaningapparatus can be shortened.

Each of the cleaning apparatuses according to the tenth embodiment isthe cassette-less type cleaning apparatus for directly handling thewafer 1 by the wafer hand thereof. Other structures shown in FIGS. 28and 29 may be employed for the cleaning apparatus in which a shiftingportion 311B is disposed in place of the product injecting/ejectingportion 311A and a cleaning cassette conveyance portion 252 is disposedin place of the product conveyance portion 352. In each case, acassette-type cleaning apparatus having a similar layout can bestructured.

ELEVENTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 30 illustrates the structure of a system for controlling theconveyance performed by a conveyance robot according to the eleventhembodiment. A conveyance-robot control portion 67 is connected to aconveyance robot 58b, and a conveyance-control CPU 65 is connected tothe conveyance-robot control portion 67. A cleaning-chamber controlportion 68 is connected to the conveyance-control CPU 65 whileinterposing a processing-time control CPU 66.

The operation of the eleventh embodiment will now be described withreference to FIG. 31.

An assumption shown in FIG. 31 is made such that wafer cassettes 21designated with diagonal lines are being processed in each of theloader/unloader portions 51, the cleaning wafer cassette retainers 51band 52b of the main processing portion 50, the first and second watercleaning chambers 54a and 55a and the drying chamber 56a. That is, FIG.31 shows a state where only the cleaning chamber 53a in the cleaningapparatus has no wafer cassette 21 which is being processed.

In accordance with an instruction issued from the conveyance-robotcontrol CPU 65, the conveyance-robot control portion 67 so controls theconveyance robot 58b as to perform the following sequential operations:the conveyance robot 58b shifts the wafer cassette 21 placed on thecleaning wafer cassette retaining frame 52b of the main processingportion 50 into the cleaning chamber 53a, and then the conveyance robot58b shifts the wafer cassette 21 on the wafer cassette retaining frame51b of the loader/unloader portion 51, shifts the wafer cassette 21 inthe drying chamber 56a to the wafer cassette retaining frame 51b of theloader/unloader portion 51, shifts the wafer cassette 21 in the secondwater cleaning chamber 55a into the drying chamber 56a, and shifts thewafer cassette 21 in the first water cleaning chamber 54a into thesecond water cleaning chamber 55a. After a predetermined processing timehas passed, the wafer cassette 21 is similarly shifted while moving anempty portion in which no wafer cassette 21 is present, that is, thefirst water cleaning chamber 54a, to the center. On the wafer cassetteretaining frame 51b of the loader/unloader portion 51, the shiftingrobot 57 takes out the cleaned wafer 1 from the wafer cassette 21 to beaccommodated in the product cassette 22. Further, the wafer 1, which hasnot been cleaned, in the other product cassette 22 is shifted to thewafer cassette 21.

The processing time control CPU 66 connected to the cleaning chambercontrol portion 68 transmits control timing with which a predeterminedprocessing time is determined. If the timing, at which the conveyancerobot 58 shifts the wafer cassette 21, is determined depending upon thepredetermined processing time of the main processing portion 50, a casesometimes occurs in that no wafer 1 is injected into the wafer cassette21 on the wafer cassette retaining frame 51b in the loader/unloaderportion 51. In this case, the empty wafer cassette 21 is not on standbyat another position, but the empty cassette 21 is, as it is, shifted tothe conveyance passage in the main processing portion 50.

A cleaning-chamber-group control portion 69 may, as shown in FIG. 32, beconnected to the processing-type control CPU 66 in place of thecleaning-chamber control portion 68 of the system shown in FIG. 30. Thecleaning-chamber-group control portion 69 comprises acleaning-chamber-control portion 69a for controlling the cleaningchamber 53a and a water-cleaning-chamber control portion 69b forcontrolling the water cleaning chambers 54a and 55a. As a result, aneffect can be obtained in a case where two units in the cleaningapparatus are in empty states where they have no wafer cassette 21. Anassumption is made that the cleaning chamber 53a and the first watercleaning chamber 54a have no wafer cassette 21 which is being processedand that each of the loader/unloader portions 51, the cleaning cassetteretaining frames 51b and 52b of the main processing portion 50, thesecond water cleaning chamber 55a and the drying chamber 56a has thewafer cassette 21 which is being processed.

In accordance with an instruction issued from the conveyance-robotcontrol CPU 65, the conveyance-robot control portion 67 controls theconveyance robot 58b to perform the following sequential operations: theconveyance robot 58b shifts the wafer cassette 21 placed on the cleaningwafer cassette retaining frame 52b of the main processing portion 50into the cleaning chamber 53a, and then the conveyance robot 58b shiftsthe wafer cassette 21 in the cleaning chamber 53a into the first watercleaning chamber 54a after a predetermined time has passed. Since thefirst water cleaning chamber 54a is in an empty state at this time, thewafer cassette 21 can be shifted to the first water cleaning chamber 54aimmediately after a predetermined time has passed in the cleaningportion 53.

Then, the conveyance robot 58b sequentially shifts the wafer cassette 21on the wafer cassette retaining frame 51b of the loader/unloader portion51 to the wafer cassette retaining frame 52b of the main processingportion 50, shifts the wafer cassette 21 in the drying chamber 56a tothe wafer cassette retaining frame 51b of the loader/unloader portion51, and shifts the wafer cassette 21 in the second water cleaningchamber 55a into the drying chamber 56a. The wafer cassette 21 shiftedfrom the cleaning chamber 53a to the first water cleaning chamber 54ais, by the conveyance robot 58b, shifted to the second water cleaningchamber 55a after a predetermined processing time has passed. Asdescribed above, the wafer cassettes 21 are shifted while moving theempty portion having no wafer cassette 21 to the center. On the wafercassette retaining frame 51b of the loader/unloader portion 51, theshifting robot 57 takes out the cleaned wafer 1 from the wafer cassette21 to cause the wafer 1 to be accommodated in the product cassette 22and shifts the wafer 1, which has not been cleaned, in the other productcassette 22 to the wafer cassette 21.

At the control timing instructed by the cleaning-chamber control portion69a and the processing-time control CPU 66 connected to a water-coolingchamber control portion 69b, the processing time in the cleaning chamber53a and the processing time in the water cleaning chambers 54a and 55aare determined. If the moving timing for the wafer cassette 21 has comein a case where no wafer 1 is injected into the wafer cassette 21 on thewafer cassette retaining frame 51b of the loader/unloader portion 51,the empty wafer cassette 21 is not on standby at another portion, butthe empty wafer cassette 21 is shifted into the conveyance passage inthe main processing portion 50 as it is.

TWELFTH EMBODIMENT

If the cleaning apparatus according to each of the embodiments is soarranged that an insulating plate 86 having an opening 86a, throughwhich the handles 21g of the wafer cassette 21 are made to appear afterthe wafer cassette 21 has been set in the cleaning chamber 85, isdisposed on the cleaning chamber 85, adhesion of mist to the handles 21gof the wafer cassette 21 occurring due to the cleaning process can beprevented. That is, the contamination of the cassette hand 88 that takesplace when the handles 21g of the cleaned wafer cassette 21 are held bythe cassette hand 88 of the conveyance robot can be prevented. As shownin FIG. 33, the handles 21g of the cleaning cassette 21, which aredisposed above the cassette's accommodating portion in which wafers canbe accommodated, are higher than the liquid level in the cleaningchamber 85 when the cassette 21 is immersed in cleaning solution.

THIRTEENTH EMBODIMENT

By making the level of a water solution 90 in a water cleaning chamber89 higher than the level of a cleaning solution in the cleaning chamber85 as shown in FIG. 33, the support plate 21a of the wafer cassette 21immersed in the cleaning solution 87 in the cleaning process can becompletely cleaned with water.

FOURTEENTH EMBODIMENT

If the structure is arranged in such a manner that, as shown in FIG. 34,pure water and drying gas are sprayed from a nozzle 91 to a portion ofthe handles 21g of the wafer cassette 21 and the support plate 21aappearing outside when the wafer cassette 21 is set in the watercleaning chamber 89, mist adhered due to the cleaning process can beremoved.

FIFTEENTH EMBODIMENT

By immersing, as shown in FIG. 35, the wafer hand 35a of the conveyanceportion 35 in pure water 93 in the water cleaning chamber 92 from amoment the wafer 1 is set in the water cleaning chamber 92, the cleaningsolution and mist adhered to the wafer hand 35a during the cleaningprocess can be removed.

SIXTEENTH EMBODIMENT

The drying portion may be structured as shown in FIG. 36. An IPArecovery chamber 44b for the wafer hand is disposed in a drying chamber44a, and an IPA recovery chamber 44c for the wafer is disposed in therecovery chamber 44b. The IPA recovery chamber 44c for the wafer has awafer receiver 44d. The wafer receiver 44d has a plurality of grooves toreceive the ends of the inserted wafers 1 to hold the wafers 1.Discharge pipes 44e and 44f for recovering IPA containing water arerespectively connected to the bottom portions of the IPA recoverychambers 44b and 44c. A condensing coil 44g is disposed along the innerwall of the upper portion of the drying chamber 44a, and a heater 44h isdisposed under the drying chamber 44a.

The operation to be performed in the drying portion according to thesixteenth embodiment will now be described. The wafer 1 cleaned withwater in the water cleaning portion 33A shown in FIG. 1 is held by thewafer hand 35a of the product conveyance portion 35 to be received bythe wafer receiver 44d of the drying portion as shown in FIG. 37. Then,only the wafer hand 35a is disposed between the two recovery chambers44b and 44c. An IPA 44i accommodated in the bottom portion of the dryingchamber 44a is heated and evaporated by the heater 44h, and it iscondensed on the surface of the wafer 1 and that of the wafer hand 35a.Then, water droplets drop from the surface of the wafer 1 into therecovery chamber 44c and water drops drop from the surface of the waferhand 35a into the recovery chamber 44b before water is dischargedoutside through the discharge pipes 44f and 44e. Thus, water and foreignmatter on the surfaces of the wafer 1 and the wafer hand 35a can beremoved.

Since the sixteenth embodiment has the arrangement that water dropletsare individually recovered from the wafer 1 and the wafer hand 35a,contamination of the wafer 1 with the IPA, which has processed the waferhand 35a, can be prevented while simultaneously processing and dryingthe wafer 1 and the wafer hand 35a.

SEVENTEENTH EMBODIMENT

The cleaning apparatus according to the fifth embodiment shown in FIG.13 may be arranged in such a manner that wafers 1 of a plurality of lotsare present in the cleaning apparatus and each of the cleaning portion53, the water cleaning portions 54 and 55 and the drying portion 56simultaneously process the wafers 1 of the corresponding lots. Sincewafers 1 for 6 lots can be simultaneously set in the foregoing cleaningapparatus including the wafer retaining frame 51a of the loader/unloaderportion 51 and the wafer retaining frame 52 on the side of the productconveyance portion 58, disposition of six or more product cassetteretaining frames in the loader/unloader portion 51 maximizes theoperation efficiency of the cleaning apparatus. A product-identificationtag is usually fastened to each product cassette 22, theproduct-identification tag being positioned adjacent to this side of thecleaning apparatus by controlling the direction of each product cassetteretaining frame.

EIGHTEENTH EMBODIMENT

The detailed structure of the robot 57 according to the fifth embodimentshown in FIG. 13 is shown in FIGS. 38 and 39. The robot 57 is soarranged as to shift the wafer 1 between the product cassette 22 placedin the loader/unloader portion 51 and the wafer retaining frame 51a. Therobot 57 comprises a hand 57a for holding the wafer 1, anorientation-flat aligning device 57b for aligning the orientation flatof the wafer 1 accommodated in the product cassette 22 and a projectingmember 57c for upwardly projecting the wafer 1 in the product cassette22 over the product cassette 22.

The robot 57 is, along the rail 57d, moved to the position of theproduct cassette 22 placed on the product cassette retainer of theloader/unloader portion 51. The robot 57 uses the orientation-flataligning device 57b to align the orientation-flat directions of theplural wafers 1 accommodated in the product cassette 22, and then theprojecting member 57c upwardly projects the wafer 1 from the productcassette 22 over the product cassette 22. In this state, the robot 57holds the wafer 1 with the hand 57a thereof, and moves the projectingmember 57c downwards, the robot 57 being then moved to a position of thewafer retaining frame 51a of the loader/unloader 51. At this time, theprojecting member 57c is moved upwards from a position below the wafercassette 21 to support the wafer 1 held by the hand 57a. After the hand57a has released the wafer 1, the projecting member 57c is moveddownwards to shift the wafer 1 to the wafer retaining frame 51a.

The robot 57 is a robot provided for a cassette-less cleaning apparatusfor directly handling the wafer 1 to shift the wafer 1 between theproduct cassette 22 and the wafer retaining frame 51a. A robot forshifting the wafer 1 between the product cassette placed in theloader/unloader portion and the wafer cassette placed on the wafercassette retaining frame can be constituted similarly to be used in acassette-type cleaning apparatus.

NINETEENTH EMBODIMENT

A wafer hand 45a structured as shown in FIG. 40 may be used as the waferhand for the product conveyance portion. Wafer support rods 45f and 45gfor establishing the connection between the arm 45b and 45d of two armpairs 45b-45c and 45d-45e are provided, while wafer support rods 45h and45i for establishing the connection between the arm 45c and 45e areprovided. The foregoing wafer support rods 45f to 45i are disposed inparallel to one another while each having plural wafer receiving grooves45j shown in FIGS. 41 and 42 therein. The wafer receiving groove 45j iscomposed of a wafer guide portion 45k to be formed into a tapered crosssectional shape, a wafer support portion 45m for supporting the wafer 1and a discharge portion 45n for discharging the IPA condensed on thesurface of the wafer 1 and on that of the wafer receiving groove 45j.For example, an 8-inch wafer having a thickness of 725 μm is so arrangedthat the width of the groove in the wafer support portion 45m is 900 μmand the width of the groove in the discharge portion 45n is 200 to 700μm.

By using the wafer hand 45a according to the nineteenth embodiment, aplurality of wafers 1 can assuredly be held and, accordingly, theprocessing performance can be improved. Since each wafer receivinggroove 45j has the discharge portion 45n, drying of the wafer 1, whichis held by the wafer hand 45a, can be performed in the drying portion 34arranged as shown in FIG. 4 in such a manner that contaminated IPAbecause it has cleaned the surface of the wafer 1 and that of the waferend 45a flows to the discharge portion 45n of each wafer receivinggroove 45j to drop into the recovery chamber 34b. As a result,re-adhesion of water and foreign matter from the contaminated IPA to thewafer 1 can be prevented and, accordingly, the wafer 1 can be cleanedand dried in a short time.

The discharge portion 45n of each wafer receiving groove 45j may beomitted. In a case where a drying portion arranged as shown in FIG. 36such that the IPA recovery chamber 44c for the wafer and the IPArecovery chamber 44b for the wafer hand are individually provided isused, the wafer hand 45a comes in contact with the vapor of IPA in astate where the wafer hand 45a is positioned away from the wafer 1.Therefore, the discharge portion 45n can be omitted from the waferreceiving groove 45j.

A wafer support rod 45p arranged as shown in FIG. 43 may be used. Thewafer support rod 45p has a vertical cut portion 45q in the longitudinaldirection thereof. By forming the foregoing cut portion 45q, thecontaminated IPA which has cleaned the surface of the wafer 1 and thatof the wafer hand 45a is able to easily drop in the drying portion.Therefore, the wafer 1 can be cleaned and dried in a shorter time.

If a wafer support rod 45r having a projecting circular arc portion asshown in FIG. 44 is used to support the wafer 1, the contact areabetween the wafer 1 and the wafer receiving groove 45s can be minimized.Therefore, amount of the IPA left in the foregoing contact portion canbe reduced and, therefore, the wafer 1 can be cleaned and dried in ashort time.

TWENTIETH EMBODIMENT

A cleaning wafer cassette 21 according to a twentieth embodiment isshown in FIGS. 45 and 46. The wafer cassette 21 is composed of a pair ofsupport plates 21a and 21b, and wafer support rods 21c to 21f aredisposed to run parallel to each other as to establish the connectionbetween the support plates 21a and 21b. Each of the wafer support rods21c to 21f has a plurality of wafer receiving grooves (omitted fromillustration) for supporting the wafers 1. Each of the support plates21a and 21b has a height sufficiently higher than the height of thewafer 1 to be accommodated in the wafer cassette 21, that is, thediameter of the wafer 1. Further, each of the support plates 21a and 21bhas handles 21g at the upper ends thereof to hold the wafer cassette 21.

A state where the wafer 1 is accommodated in the wafer cassette 21 andthe wafer cassette 21 is set in the cleaning chamber 14a is shown inFIG. 47. Since each of the support plates 21a and 21b has a height whichis sufficiently higher than the wafer 1, the handles 21g of the wafercassette 21 are positioned above the level of the cleaning solution 14bif the wafer 1 is completely immersed in the cleaning solution 14.Therefore, the chuck of the cassette hand for holding the handles 21g isnot wetted with the cleaning solution 14b. That is, an exclusive handcleaning portion for cleaning and drying the cassette hand can beomitted from the structure. As an alternative to this, an operation forchanging the wetted cassette hand to a dry cassette hand can be omitted.

Since the wafer cassette 21 has a surface area which is smaller thanthat of a conventional box-shape wafer cassette and the wafer 1 appearsconsiderably as compared with the same, the cleaning effect can beimproved. Furthermore, the fact that the width of the wafer cassette 21is narrow enables the size of the chamber of each unit to be reducedsimilarly to the cassette-less cleaning apparatus according to the firstembodiment. Further, the following advantages obtainable from thecassette-type apparatus can be realized: the wafer 1 can be protectedfrom damage at the time of conveyance as compared with the cassette-lesstype; and the adjustment at the time of maintenance can easily becompleted.

TWENTY-FIRST EMBODIMENT

If the cleaning solution 14b or cleaning water 15b is a bubble-formingsolution, there is a fear that the upper end portion of the wafercassette 21 will be wetted with droplets of the solution due to bubbleformation. Accordingly, disposition of a solution block 21h along theouter surface of the wafer cassette 21 as shown in FIG. 48 blocks thedroplets due to the formation of bubbles. Therefore, the upper-end ofthe wafer cassette 21 cannot be wetted with the droplets. As a result,wetting of the chuck 25c of the cassette hand can effectively beprevented.

TWENTY-SECOND EMBODIMENT

A conventional wafer cassette 2 may comprise chucks 19c, to whichexclusive gloves 19e, arranged as shown in FIG. 49, are fastened inorder to protect the chuck 19c of the cassette hand from being wettedwith the cleaning solution 14b or cleaning water 15b to perform thecleaning process and the water cleaning process. A cassette handcomprising the chucks 19c, to which the exclusive gloves 19e arefastened, is shown in FIG. 50.

As shown in FIG. 51, the chucks 19c, to which the exclusive gloves 19eare fastened, are used to set the wafer cassette 2 in the cleaningchamber 14a in such a manner that the wafer 1 is completely immersed inthe cleaning solution 14b. Although a portion of the exclusive glove 19eis immersed in the cleaning solution 14b at this time, the chuck 19c isnot wetted with the cleaning solution 14b. When the wafer cassette 2 isset in the cleaning water 15b in the water cleaning chamber 15a, wettingof the chuck 19c with cleaning water 15b can be prevented although aportion of the exclusive glove 19e is immersed in cleaning water 15b.After the water cleaning process has been completed, the wafer cassette2, to which the exclusive gloves 19e are fastened, is set in the dryingportion 16 to perform the drying process. After the drying process hasbeen completed, the exclusive gloves 19e are removed from the chuck 19c,and the chuck 19c is directly used to take out the dried wafer cassette2 from the drying portion 16. As a result, an exclusive hand cleaningportion for cleaning and drying the cassette hand can be omitted.

If the cleaning solution 14b or cleaning water 15b is a bubble formingsolution, there is a fear that the chuck 19c will be wetted with thedroplets of the solution. Accordingly, a solution block 19j is formedalong the outer end of the exclusive glove 19e as shown in FIG. 52 sothat droplets of the solution are blocked by the solution block 19j. Asa result, wetting of the top end of the exclusive glove 19e with thedroplet of the solution can be prevented. As a result, wetting of thechuck 19c of the cassette hand can be prevented effectively.

Another arrangement may be employed, as shown in FIG. 53, in which thechuck 19c is directly +used from the cleaning process to the dryingprocess to handle the wafer cassette 2 and the exclusive glove 19e isfastened to the chuck 19c only at the time of taking out the dried wafercassette 2 from the drying portion 16. Even if the chuck 19c is wetted,fastening of the exclusive glove 19e enables the dried wafer 1 and thewafer cassette 2 to be taken out from the drying portion 16 whilepreventing the dried wafer 1 and the wafer cassette 2 from being wetted.

TWENTY-THIRD EMBODIMENT

FIG. 54 illustrates a cassette hand according to a twenty-thirdembodiment. The foregoing cassette hand comprises a changeable-chuckconnection jig 19 connected to a movable arm 19a while interposing achuck support arm 19b, and a movable chuck 19g detachably provided forthe connection jig 19f. The connection jig 19f includes anelectromagnet, while the changeable chuck 19g is made of magneticmaterial. The leading portion of the connection jig 19f is inserted intoa fastening hole 19h formed in the changeable chuck 19g and an electriccurrent is caused to pass through the electromagnet of the connectionjig 19f so that the fastening chuck 19g is connected to the connectionjig 19f as shown in FIG. 55 to serve as a portion of the cassette hand.

As shown in FIG. 56, the first changeable chuck 19g is fastened to theconnection jig 19f, and the first changeable chuck 19g is used to setthe wafer cassette 2 in the cleaning chamber 14a in such a manner thatthe wafer 1 is completely immersed in the cleaning solution 14b. At thistime, a portion of the changeable chuck 19g is immersed in the cleaningsolution 14b. Similarly, the first changeable chuck 19g is used to setthe wafer cassette 2 into cleaning water 15b in the water cleaningchamber 15a. Also at this time, a portion of the changeable chuck 19g isimmersed in cleaning water 15b. After the water cleaning process hasbeen completed, the first changeable chuck 19g is used to set the wafercassette 2 into the drying portion 16 to perform the drying process.After the drying process has been completed, the first changeable chuck19g wetted with the cleaning solution 14b and cleaning water 15b isremoved and the dry second changeable chuck 19i is fastened to theconnection jig 19f. By using the changeable chuck 19i to take out thedried wafer cassette 2 from the drying portion 16, an exclusive handcleaning portion for cleaning and drying the cassette hand can beomitted from the structure.

TWENTY-FORTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 57 is an overall structural view which illustrates a semiconductorcleaning apparatus according to a twenty-fourth embodiment. Thesemiconductor cleaning apparatus has a cleaning apparatus body 101 forperforming each step of the cleaning process and a loader/unloaderportion 102. The cleaning apparatus body 101 has, at the central portionthereof, a product conveyance portion 110 disposed along thelongitudinal direction of the cleaning apparatus. The product conveyanceportion 110 has a conveyance robot having a movement shaft in thelongitudinal direction of the cleaning apparatus and a rotational shaftfor rotating a cassette hand 110h. On the two sides of the productconveyance portion 110, a cleaning wafer cassette retaining frame 123, acleaning chamber 114 of a cleaning portion 105, water cleaning chambers120a and 120b of water cleaning portions 106a and 106b and a dryingchamber 121 of a drying portion 107 are disposed to form two linesextending in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning apparatus. Theloader/unloader portion 102 is disposed at an end portion of the productconveyance portion 110 in the direction of the width of the cleaningapparatus to have a long length, the loader/unloader portion 102 havingsix product cassette retaining frames and one cleaning cassetteretaining frame 124. As a result, six product cassettes 22 and onecleaning cassette 21 can be placed simultaneously. Further, a shiftingrobot for shifting the wafer between the product cassette 22 placed inthe loader/unloader portion 102 and the cleaning cassette 21 is disposedadjacent to the loader/unloader portion 102.

FIG. 58 is a front elevational view which illustrates the semiconductorcleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 57. Reference numeral 126 represents anair conditioning filter disposed on a cleaning portion 105, watercleaning portions 106a and 106b and a drying portion 107 of thesemiconductor cleaning apparatus, the air conditioning filter 126 beingarranged to supply clean air.

FIG. 59 is a side elevational view which illustrates the semiconductorcleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 57. Reference numeral 127 represents anair conditioning filter for supplying clean air to the loader/unloaderportion 102, 128 represents a discharge portion for discharging air fromthe cleaning portion 105, the water cleaning portions 106a and 106b andthe drying portion 107 of the semiconductor cleaning apparatus, and 129represents a discharge portion for discharging air from theloader/unloader portion 102.

The operation will now be described. The product cassette 22accommodating the wafer is placed on the product cassette retainingframe of the loader/unloader portion 102. The shifting robot 125 takesout the wafer from the product cassette 22 to shift the wafer to thecleaning cassette 21 placed on the cleaning wafer cassette retainingframe 124. The cleaning cassette 21 thus accommodating the wafer is heldby the cassette hand 110h of the product conveyance portion 110 to beshifted to the cleaning wafer cassette retaining frame 123 in which thecleaning cassette 21 is then on standby. Then, the product conveyanceportion 110 sets the cleaning cassette 21 into the cleaning chamber 114of the cleaning portion 105. After the wafer in the cleaning cassette 21has been cleaned in a predetermined manner, the product conveyanceportion 110 sets the cleaning cassette 21 into the water cleaningchamber 120a of the first water cleaning portion 106a. After the waferhas been cleaned with water in a predetermined manner, the productconveyance portion 110 sets the cleaning cassette 21 into the watercleaning chamber 120b of the second water cleaning portion 106b so as tobe cleaned with water. By sequentially cleaning the wafer in the twowater cleaning chambers 120a and 120b, the time required to complete thewater cleaning process can be shortened and an assured water cleaningprocess can be expected.

The product conveyance portion 110 sets the cleaning cassette 21, whichhas been cleaned with water, into the drying chamber 121 of the dryingportion 107. After drying has been completed, the product conveyanceportion 110 takes out the cleaning cassette 21 from the drying chamber121 to shift the cleaning cassette 21 onto the cleaning wafer cassetteretaining frame 124. The shifting robot 125 takes out the wafer from thecleaning cassette 21 placed on the cleaning wafer cassette retainingframe 124 to shift the wafer to an empty product cassette placed on theproduct cassette retaining frame.

Clean air blown out of the air conditioning filter 126 passes throughthe semiconductor cleaning apparatus body 101 and is discharged throughthe discharge portion 128. On the other hand, clean air blown out of theair conditioning filter 127 passes through the loader/unloader portion102 and is discharged through the discharge portion 129.

The air flow in the semiconductor cleaning apparatus 101 will now bedescribed. FIG. 60 is a front elevational and cross sectional view whichillustrates the detailed structure of the inside of the semiconductorcleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 57. Reference numerals 126a and 126brepresent air conditioning filters disposed above the cleaning chamber114 of the cleaning portion 105 and water cleaning chambers 120a and120b of the water cleaning portions 106a and 106b, the air conditioningfilters 126a and 126b being arranged to supply clean air. Referencenumerals 130a and 130b represent discharge ports for sucking anddischarging air around the cleaning chamber 114 and the water cleaningchambers 120a and 120b. Reference numerals 131a to 131g representdischarge ducts connected to the discharge ports 130a and 130b.Reference numerals 132a and 132b represent discharge pipes connected tothe discharge ducts 131a to 131g and arranged to finally discharge airto the outside of the semiconductor cleaning apparatus 1. Referencenumeral A1 represents downflows sent from the air conditioning filters126a and 126b, A2a to A2d represent sucked air flows sucked into thedischarge ports 127a and 127b and A3a to A3d represent discharge flowsto be discharged into the discharge pipes 132a and 132b by way of thedischarge ducts 128a to 128g.

The downflows A1 blown out of the air conditioning filters 126a and 126bpass through the product conveyance portions 110 and 110a, the cassettehand 110h and the cleaning cassette 21 to be sucked, as designated byA2a to A2d, through the discharge port 130a formed around the cleaningchamber 114 of the cleaning portion 105 and the discharge port 130bformed around the water cleaning chamber 120b of the water cleaningportion 106b. Then, the sucked air is discharged from the dischargeducts 131a to 131f to the discharge pipes 132a and 132b as designated bydischarge flows A3a to A3d. As a result, the downflows A1 in the upperportions of the cleaning chamber 114 and the water cleaning chamber 120trap chemical mist generated in the cleaning chamber 114, and then thedownflows A1 are equal sucked air flows A2a to A2d which are sucked intothe discharge ports 130a and 130b. Therefore, diffusion of the chemicalmist above the cleaning chamber 114 can be prevented. Further, chemicalmist can be trapped by the downflows A1, the chemical mist beinggenerated in the cassette hand 110h and the cleaning cassette 21 at thetime of, by the product conveyance portion 110a, upwardly taking out thecassette hand 110h and the cleaning cassette 21 immersed in the cleaningsolution in the cleaning chamber 114. Therefore, the chemical mist is,together with the sucked air flows A2a to A2d, discharged to thedischarge pipes 132a and 132b. As a result, diffusion of the chemicalmist generating during the conveyance can be prevented.

Although the cleaning apparatus according to this embodiment is acassette-type apparatus using a cleaning cassette, this embodiment may,of course, be adapted to a cassette-less cleaning apparatus which doesnot use a cleaning cassette but directly handles the wafer.

TWENTY-FIFTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 61 is a front elevational and cross sectional view whichillustrates the inside portion of a semiconductor cleaning apparatusbody according to a twenty-fifth embodiment. FIG. 62 illustrates acontrol sequence employed in the semiconductor cleaning apparatus shownin FIG. 61.

Referring to the drawings, reference numeral 133 represents pure waterenclosed in the water cleaning chamber 120, A4a and A4b representupflows of natural convections, and A5a and A5b represent downflowsimmediately above the cleaning chamber 114 and the water cleaningchamber 120. Reference numeral 134 represents means for detecting thetemperature of the cleaning solution for detecting temperature T1 of thecleaning solution enclosed in the cleaning chamber 114. Referencenumeral 135 represents temperature detection means for detectingtemperature Ta in the cleaning apparatus, and 136 represents acalculation portion for calculating control output N1 from means 137 forchanging the pressure of air to be supplied from the air conditioningfilter in accordance with output T1 from the means 134 for detecting thetemperature of the cleaning solution and output Ta from the temperaturedetection means.

The cleaning solution 115 in the cleaning chamber 114 and dried vapor inthe drying chamber 121 are set to different temperatures if the process,such as the light etching and the resist removal, is different. It hasbeen known that the rises of the temperatures of the upflows A4a and A4bof the natural convections generated above the cleaning chamber 114 andthe drying chamber 121 are in proportion to the difference between thetemperature T1 of the cleaning solution, the temperature T2 of driedvapor and the temperature Ta in the cleaning apparatus, the rises of thetemperature being expressed by Equation 1:

    V1=f1(T1-Ta)                                               (1)

where V1 is the speed of the upward movement of the upflow of thenatural convection and f1 is a function of the temperature difference.

Since the speed V1, at which the chemical mist 118 and dried vapor aremoved upwards while wafting on the natural convections A4a and A4b, israised in proportion to the rise in the temperature T1 of the cleaningsolution and the temperature of dried vapor, the pressure for supplyingair from the air conditioning filter must be changed in accordance withthe temperature T1 of the cleaning solution and the temperature T2 ofdried vapor in order to restrict the speed V1. The air supply velocity(supply pressure) V2 of the air blower and the rotational speed N1 ofthe air supply motor usually hold a proportional relationship.Therefore, the rotational speed N1 of the air supply motor must becontrol to meet Equation 2:

    N1=f2(T1-Ta)                                               (2)

where f2 is a function of the temperature difference.

In order to achieve the foregoing control sequence, the means 134 fordetecting the temperature of the cleaning solution and the temperaturedetection means 135 are used to detect the temperature T1 of thecleaning solution and the temperature Ta in the cleaning apparatus.Further, signals denoting the results of detections are, as inputsignals, supplied to the calculation portion 36 to perform calculationsin accordance with Equation 3. Then, the rotational speed N1 of the airsupply motor is transmitted. The rotational speed N1 of the air supplymotor is, as an input signal, supplied to the means 137 for changing thepressure of air to be supplied from the air conditioning filter tochange the rotational speed of the air supply motor.

If plural temperatures are set in the cleaning apparatus, the air supplypressure must be controlled to be adaptable to the highest temperatureamong the plural temperatures. FIG. 63 illustrates a control sequencefor a semiconductor cleaning apparatus to be employed when pluraltemperatures are present. Referring to FIG. 63, reference numerals 136aand 136b represent calculation portions, 138 represents means fordetecting the temperature of dried vapor for detecting temperature T2 ofdried vapor, and 139 represents comparison means.

The calculation means 136a calculates the rotational speed N1 of the airsupply motor corresponding to the temperature T1 of the cleaningsolution, while the calculation portion 136b calculates the rotationalspeed N2 of the air supply motor corresponding to the temperature T2 ofthe dried vapor. The comparison means 139 subjects the two rotationalspeeds N1 and N2 to a comparison to transmit the larger rotational speedNmax. The rotational speed Nmax is, as an input signal, supplied to themeans 137 for changing the pressure of air to be supplied from the airconditioning filter to change the rotational speed of the air supplymotor.

The means 137 for changing the pressure of air to be supplied from theair conditioning filter may be means for controlling the frequency ofthe power source for the air supply motor. Means for controlling thepower supply voltage of the air supply motor may, of course, be employedto obtain a similar effect.

If the discharge flow is so changed that the pressure of thesemiconductor cleaning apparatus body 101 and the pressure on theoutside of the apparatus are balanced with each other or the same ismade lower than the pressure on the outside of the apparatus when theair supply pressure from the air conditioning filter is changed,diffusion of the chemical mist to the outside of the semiconductorcleaning apparatus body 101 can be prevented.

Since this embodiment is so arranged that the air supply pressures fromthe air conditioning filters 126a and 126b are changed to correspond tothe temperature of the cleaning solution in the cleaning portion 105 andthe temperature of vapor in the drying portion 107 as described above,the air supply pressure can be raised if the temperature of the cleaningsolution in the cleaning portion 105 or the temperature of vapor in thedrying portion 107 is too high. Therefore, an effect of restrictingdownflows can be obtained to correspond to the rising force of thenatural convections generated in the cleaning portion 105 and the dryingportion 107. As a result, adhesion of chemical mist generated in thecleaning portion 105 and that of vapor in the drying portion 107 to thecomponent units of the cleaning apparatus, which causes the componentunits to be corroded, can be prevented. Adhesion to the wafer, whichcauses a defect, and outward diffusion causing similar corrosion anddefects can be prevented.

This embodiment may be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing a cleaning cassette or a cassette-less type cleaning apparatus fordirectly handling the wafer.

TWENTY-SIXTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 64 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedperipheral structure in the vicinity of a cleaning chamber of asemiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a twenty-sixth embodiment.Referring to FIG. 64, reference numerals 130a to 130d representdischarge ports for discharging air around the cleaning chamber 114, and140 represents a panel above the cleaning chamber 114, the panel 140being arranged to be opened above the cleaning chamber 114 and having amultiplicity of small apertures formed in a portion covering theresidual regions. Reference numeral 141 represents a drain panel forreceiving cleaning droplets 143 received by the panel 140 above thecleaning chamber 114 and dropped through the multiple-aperture portion.Reference numeral 142 represents a drain discharge port for dischargingdrainage 144 received by the drain panel 141. Reference numeral 145represents a discharge solution flow discharged through the draindischarge port 142. Reference numerals A2a to A2d represent suctionflows to be sucked into the discharge ports 130a to 130d, A3a to A3brepresent discharge flows to be discharged through the discharge ducts131a to 130b, A5a and A5B represent downflows above the cleaning chamber114 which has reached the positions above the cleaning chamber 114, andA6 represents a downflow above the panel 140 above the cleaning chamber114 which has reached the panel 140 above the cleaning chamber 114.

After the wafer in the cleaning cassette 21 set in the cleaning chamber114 has been cleaned in a predetermined manner, the cleaning cassette 21is raised by the product conveyance portion 110 to be shifted to a watercleaning chamber 120a. At this time, the corrosion of the apparatus dueto drops of the cleaning solution 115 adhered to the cleaning cassette21 into the portions except for the cleaning chamber 114 is prevented bycovering, with the drain-receiving panel 140 above the cleaning chamber114, the cleaning chamber 114, the water cleaning chambers 120a and 120band the drying chamber 121, the panel 140 being opened above thechambers. Droplets of the cleaning solution received by the panel 140pass through the multiple aperture portion of the panel 140 to becomecleaning droplets 143 which are gathered by the drain panel 141 asdrainage 144. Then, the drainage 144 is the discharge flow 145discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the drain dischargeport 142.

Since the panel 140 above the chamber is a multiple-aperture plateexcept for the opening above the chamber, the downflows A1 can beuniformly formed on entire surface of the semiconductor cleaningapparatus body 101 without becoming stagnant. Further, the downflows A5aand A5b above the chamber are formed above the cleaning chamber 114, andthe downflows A6 on the chamber passing through the aperture portion ofthe panel 140 above the chamber are formed. The downflows A5a and A5babove the chamber and the downflow A6 on the panel above the chamber aresucked into the discharge ports 130a to 130d to be discharged throughthe discharge ducts 131a and 131b.

By changing the diameter of the small aperture formed in the panel 140above the chamber and the aperture ratio, the proportion of thedownflows A5a and A5b above the chamber and the downflow A6 on the panelabove the chamber can be changed.

This embodiment is arranged in such a manner that the panel 140 abovethe chamber is opened only above the chamber and the residual portion ofthe panel covering the other portions is a multiple aperture plate, theapertures being connected to the discharge pipe. Therefore, to stagnantair due to the inhibition of the downflows by the panel 140 above thechamber can be prevented and all air flows can be made downflows.Further, the lower portion of the multiple aperture plate is made to bethe drain receiver so that chemical droplets which drop from the wafer,which is being conveyed, can be received.

Although the description has been about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment may, of course,be adapted to a cassette-less cleaning apparatus which directly handlesthe wafers.

TWENTY-SEVENTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 65 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure of a portion including a cleaning chamber of a semiconductorcleaning apparatus according to a twenty-seventh embodiment. FIG. 66 isa graph of the relationship between the temperature and pressure of airas a function of humidity. FIG. 67 is a schematic view which illustratesa state where chemical mist is trapped by water mist.

Referring to FIG. 65, reference numerals 146a and 146b represent coolingheat-exchangers respectively disposed in the rear of air conditioningfilters 126a and 126b and arranged to cool the downflows A1. Referencenumerals 147a and 147b represent refrigerators for supplying a coolingmedium to the cooling heat-exchangers 146a and 146b, and 148a and 148brepresent water mist condensed at the intersection of the cooleddownflows A1 and hot upflows A4a and A4b. Referring to FIG. 66, symbol Crepresents saturated vapor lines, P1 represents a state in the cleaningapparatus, P2 represents a state of the position at which the downflowsand the upflows of the natural convection intersect, Ta represents thetemperature in the state P1, and T3 represents the temperature in thestate P2. Referring to FIG. 67, reference numeral 118 representschemical mist, 148 represents water mist, 118a represents chemical mistdissolved in water mist, 118b represents vapor of the chemical solution,and 118c represents vapor of the chemical solution dissolved in watermist.

Chemical mist 118 moving while wafting on the upflows A4a and A4b of thenatural convections behaves as finite size particles having inertiawhile chemical vapor 118b shows a diffusive behavior. Therefore, whenthe chemical mist 118 and the chemical vapor 118b are trapped by thedownflows A5a to A5d on the chamber, the chemical mist 118 is sometimesdeviated from the lines of the downflows A5a to A5d on the chamberbecause the chemical mist 118 has the inertia force. On the other hand,the chemical vapor 118b diffuses widely with respect to a chemicalspecies as compared with the diffusion of the air flows. Therefore, itis difficult to completely insulate the chemical mist 118 and thechemical vapor 118b by only the downflows of the air flows. Accordingly,the temperature of the downflow A1 is made to be lower than those of thecooling heat-exchangers 146a and 146b to form low temperature downflowsA5a to A5d in the chamber intersecting the hot upflows A4a and A4b ofthe natural convections generated in the cleaning chamber 114.

Change in the humidity in the air flow will now be described withreference to a graph about the wet air flows shown in FIG. 66. Assumingthat the states of the upflows A4a and A4b of the natural convections attemperature T3 which is higher than the ambient temperature are P1, theconflict between the upflows A4a and A4b of the natural convections withthe downflows A5a to A5d in the chamber causes the downflows A5a to A5dto lower the temperatures of the upflows A4a and A4b of the naturalconvections, resulting in state P2 to be shifted to the left parallel tothe abscissa of the graph until it reaches saturated vapor line C atwhich condensation of water contained in the air flows is commenced. Asa result, water mists 148a and 148b are generated. Assuming that thetemperature at this time is T4, the temperature of the downflows A5a toA5b in the chamber must be so determined that the temperatures of theupflows A4a and A4b of the natural convections are lower than T4 afterthe intersection generate water mists 148a and 148b.

The chemical mist 118 and the chemical vapor 118b are dissolved into thegenerated water mist 148 and trapped by the water mist as the chemicalmist 118a to be dissolved in the water mist and the chemical vapor 118cto be dissolved in the water mist. The water mist is, together with thesuction flows, allowed to pass through the discharge ports 130a to 130dand the discharge ducts 131a to 131d and discharged through thedischarge pipes 132a and 132b.

Since this embodiment is, as described above, arranged in such a mannerthat the heat exchangers 146a and 146b for cooling the supplied air andrefrigerators 147a and 147b for supplying a cooling medium to the heatexchangers 146a and 146b are disposed in front of or in the rear of thefirst and second air conditioning filters 126a and 126b for supplyingcleaned air to the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portion and thedrying portion. As a result, the cooled air supplied from the airconditioning filters 126a and 126b and the upflows of the naturalconvections of vapor generated in the cleaning chamber in the cleaningportion or the upflows of the natural convections of vapor generated inthe vapor chamber of the drying portion intersect at a position adjacentto the top end of the cleaning chamber or the vapor chamber to condensesteam in the cooling air to generate water mist. The water mist trapsthe chemical mist or the drying vapor so that the diffusion of thechemical mist or the vapor into the cleaning apparatus or to the outsideof the apparatus causing the corrosion of the apparatus or defects ofthe wafer is prevented.

Although the description has been about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment may, of course,be adapted to a cassette-less cleaning apparatus that does not use thecleaning cassette and that directly handles the wafer.

TWENTY-EIGHTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 68 is a front elevational and cross sectional view whichillustrates the detailed structure of a portion including a cleaningchamber of a semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to atwenty-eighth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 68, reference numeral 149represents a double-fluid nozzle, 150 represents a pure-water nozzle,151 represents a gas pipe, 152 represents a solution pipe, 153represents a gas pipe for supplying the solution under pressure, 154represents inactive gas or clean air and 155 represents fine grainpure-water mist.

The inactive gas or clean air 154 is distributed into the gas pipe 151and the gas pipe 153 for supplying the solution under pressure. Thesepipes are connected to the double-fluid nozzle 149. Pure wateraccumulated in the pure-water tank 150 is sent to the solution pipe 152under the pressure of the inactive gas supplied from the gas pipe 153for supplying the solution under pressure or the pressure of pure air154. The inactive gas or clean air 154 is supplied to the double-fluidnozzle 149 through the gas pipe 151 and pure water is supplied to thesame from the solution pipe 152. As a result, the fine-grain pure watermist 155 is generated. The fine-grain pure water mist 155, together withthe downflow A1 and the downflows A5a and A5b on the chamber, reachesthe position above the cleaning chamber 114 and traps the chemical mist118 and the chemical vapor 118b by dissolving them as shown in FIG. 67.The pure-water mist 155, together with suction flows, passes through thedischarge ports 130a and 130b and the discharge ducts 131a and 131b andthen it is discharged through the discharge pipe 132.

Although this embodiment is so arranged that the fine-grained pure wateris made using the double-fluid nozzle 149, a supersonic or a rotativedisc or a transparent wet film or a heating method may be used to obtaina similar effect.

This embodiment is, as described above, arranged in such a manner that ablow-out port of the double-fluid nozzle 149 for spraying clean air orthe active gas 154 as the secondary fluid is formed in the rear of thefirst air conditioning filter 126 for supplying clean air to thecleaning portion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion tomix the pure-water mist 155 into the downflows. Therefore, the watermist 155 traps the chemical mist generated in the cleaning chamber 114of the cleaning portion or vapor generated from the steam chamber of thedrying portion so that the diffusion of the chemical mist or the vaporinto the cleaning apparatus or to the outside of the apparatus causingthe corrosion of the apparatus or defects of the wafer is prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and a cassette-less cleaning apparatus thatdoes not use the cleaning cassette and that directly handles the wafer.

TWENTY-NINTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 69 is a front elevational and cross sectional view whichillustrates the detailed structure of a portion including a cleaningchamber of a semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to atwenty-ninth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 69, reference numeral 156represents an air-curtain blower, 158 represents an air-curtain blow-outport disposed on one side of the cleaning chamber 114 and having auniform width, 157 represents an air-curtain air supply duct forestablishing the connection between the air-curtain blower 156 and theair-curtain blow-out port 158, 159 represents distribution of theair-curtain blow-out velocity, 160 represents an air curtain formedabove the cleaning chamber 114, 161 represents an air-curtain suctionport formed on one side of the cleaning chamber 114 to face theair-curtain blow-out port 158, and 162 represents an air-curtaindischarge duct for establishing the connection between the air-curtainsuction port 161 and the discharge pipe.

The air curtain 160 supplied from the air-curtain blower 156 and blownout through the air-curtain blow-out port 158 via the air-curtain airsupply duct 157 is formed to cover the portion above the cleaningchamber 114, and then it is sucked through the air-curtain suction port161. Then, it is discharged into the discharge pipe via the air-curtaindischarge duct 162. As a result, the portion above the cleaning chamber114 is shielded by the air curtain 160 and, accordingly, the chemicalmist generated in the cleaning chamber 114 is trapped by the air curtain160 and sucked into the air-curtain discharge port 161. Therefore,diffusion of the chemical mist to the portion above the cleaning chamber114 can be prevented.

This embodiment is so arranged that the air curtain 160 formed on theone side of the chamber and having an equal thickness in the widthwisedirection of the chamber is blown out horizontally through the openingabove the cleaning chamber of the cleaning portion the vapor chamber ofthe drying portion, and the air-curtain suction port 161, uniform in thewidthwise direction, is formed on the opposing side. Therefore, the riseof chemical mist generated from the cleaning chamber 114 of the cleaningportion and that of the vapor generated in the vapor chamber of thedrying portion due to the natural convection is shielded by the aircurtain 160 and recovered into the discharge duct 162. Therefore, thediffusion of the chemical mist or the vapor mist into the cleaningchamber or to the outside can be prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and a cassette-less cleaning apparatus thatdoes not use the cleaning cassette and that directly handles the wafer.

THIRTIETH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 70 is a front elevational and cross sectional view whichillustrates the detailed structure of a portion including a cleaningchamber of a semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a thirtiethembodiment. Referring to FIG. 70, reference numeral 156 represents anair-curtain blower, 158 represents an air-curtain blow-out port disposedon one side of the cleaning chamber 114 and having a uniform width, 157represents an air-curtain air supply duct for establishing theconnection between the air-curtain blower 156 and the air-curtainblow-out port 158, 160 represents an air curtain formed above thecleaning chamber 114, 161 represents an air-curtain suction port formedon one side of the cleaning chamber 114 to face the air-curtain blow-outport 158, 162 represents an air-curtain discharge duct for establishingthe connection between the air-curtain suction port 161 and thedischarge pipe, and 163 represents a current plate disposed immediatelybefore the air-curtain blow-out port 158 and along the direction of thepath of the air-curtain air supply duct 157, the length of the currentplate 163 in the direction of the path being shortened in proportion tothe distance from the cleaning chamber 114. Reference numeral 164represents the distribution of the blowing velocity of the air curtain160.

The air curtain 160 supplied from the air curtain blower 156 and blownout through the air-curtain blow-out port 158 via the air-curtain airsupply duct 157 is formed to cover the portion above the cleaningchamber 114, and sucked through the air-curtain suction port 161. Then,the sucked air is discharged into the discharge pipe via the air-curtaindischarge duct 162. At this time, the velocity gradient in the shearlayer of the air curtain is reduced at the top end of the air curtain160 and, accordingly, air induction from the space above the cleaningchamber 114 is reduced. Since the velocity gradient in the shear layerof the air curtain is enlarged at the lower end of the air curtain 160,the chemical mist generated from the cleaning chamber 114 is efficientlyinduced and trapped by the air curtain 160. As a result, the portionabove the cleaning chamber 114 is effectively insulated by the aircurtain so that the chemical mist generated from the cleaning chamber114 is trapped by the air curtain 160 and then sucked into theair-curtain discharge port 161. Therefore, the diffusion of the chemicalmist in the portion above the cleaning chamber 114 can be prevented.

This embodiment is, as described above, arranged in such a manner that acurrent grid or the current plate 163 having a length in the directionof the path which is shortened in proportion to the distance from thecleaning chamber 114 or the vapor chamber is disposed at the air-curtainblow-out port 158 to blow out the air curtain to form a layer-flow andthe velocity distribution is so made that the velocity is graduallyraised in inverse proportion to the chamber. Therefore, the velocitygradient in the shear layer of the air curtain adjacent to thegeneration source for the chemical mist and the vapor is enlarged. As aresult, the chemical mist and the vapor are induced so that theinsulating effect is improved and, accordingly, diffusion of thechemical mist and the vapor mist into the cleaning chamber 114 or to theoutside can be prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and a cassette-less cleaning apparatus thatdoes not use the cleaning cassette and that directly handles the wafer.

THIRTY-FIRST EMBODIMENT

FIG. 71 is a front elevational and cross sectional view whichillustrates a portion including a cleaning chamber of a semiconductorcleaning apparatus according to the thirty-first embodiment. Referringto FIG. 71, reference numeral 134 represents a cleaning-solutiontemperature detection means for detecting temperature T1 of a cleaningsolution enclosed in a cleaning chamber 114, 156 represents a aircurtain blower, 158 represents an air-curtain blow-out port formed alongone side of the cleaning chamber 114 and having a uniform width, 157represents an air-curtain air supply duct for establishing theconnection between the air curtain blower 156 and the air-curtainblow-out port 158, 159 represents distribution of blowing out velocityof the air curtain 160, 160 represents an air curtain formed above thecleaning chamber 114, 161 represents an air-curtain suction port formedalong one side of the cleaning chamber 114 to face the air-curtainblow-out port 158, 162 represents an air-curtain discharge duct forestablishing the connection between the air-curtain suction port 161 andthe discharge pipe, 165 represents an air-curtain flow temperaturedetection means for detecting air flow temperature Ta of the aircurtain, and 136 represents a calculation portion for calculatingcontrol output N1 of an air-curtain air-supply pressure changing means166 by receiving output T1 from a cleaning solution temperaturedetection means 134 and output Ta from the air curtain air flowtemperature detection means 165.

Since velocity V1 of the rise of the chemical mist 118 and dried vaporwafting on the natural convection A4 is raised in proportion to the riseof the cleaning solution temperature T1 and the dried vapor temperature,the pressure for blowing out the air curtain 160 must be changed tocorrespond to the cleaning solution temperature T1 and the dried vaportemperature T2. The cleaning solution temperature detection means 134and the air curtain air flow temperature detection means 165 are used todetect the cleaning solution temperature T1 and the air curtain air flowtemperature Ta to supply signals denoting the results to the calculationportion 136 as input signals. By using the input signals, thecalculations according to Equation 2 described in the twenty-fifthembodiment are performed, and then the rotational speed N1 of the aircurtain blower is transmitted. The air-curtain air supply pressurechanging means 166 changes the rotational speed of the air curtainblower 156 in accordance with the rotational speed N1 calculated in thecalculation portion 136.

The air-curtain air supply pressure changing means 166 may be means forcontrolling the frequency of the power source for the air curtain blower156 or means for controlling the power supply voltage to be applied tothe air curtain blower 156.

Since this embodiment is, as described above, arranged so that thepressure for supplying the air curtain is changed in accordance with thecleaning solution temperature in the cleaning portion and the vaportemperature in the drying portion, the air supply pressure can be raisedif the cleaning solution temperature in the cleaning portion or thevapor temperature in the drying portion is too high. As a result, theinsulation effect of the air curtain can correspond to the force of theupflows of the natural convections generated in the cleaning portion andthe drying portion. Therefore, adhesion of chemical mist generated inthe cleaning portion and that of vapor in the drying portion to thecomponent units of the cleaning apparatus, which causes the componentunits to be corroded, can be prevented. Adhesion to the wafer, whichcauses a defect, and outward diffusion causing similar corrosion anddefects can be prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and a cassette-less cleaning apparatus thatdoes not use the cleaning cassette and that directly handles the wafer.

THIRTY-SECOND EMBODIMENT

FIG. 72 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure of a portion including the cleaning chamber of a semiconductorcleaning apparatus according to a thirty-second embodiment. Referring toFIG. 72, reference numeral 118 represents chemical mist, 156 representsan air curtain blower, 158 represents an air curtain blow-out portformed on one side of the cleaning chamber 114 and having a uniformwidth, 157 represents an air curtain air-supply duct for establishingthe connection between the air curtain blower 156 and the air-curtainblow-out port 158, 159 represents distribution of air curtain blowingout velocities, 160 represents an air curtain formed above the cleaningchamber 114, 161 represents an air-curtain suction port formed along oneside of the cleaning chamber 114 to face the air-curtain blow-out port158, 162 represents an air curtain discharge duct for establishing theconnection between the air-curtain suction port 161 and the dischargepipe, 167 represents a cooling heat-exchanger disposed in theair-curtain air supply duct 157 and arranged to cool the air curtainflow, 168 represents a refrigerator for supplying cooling medium to thecooling heat-exchanger 167, and 148 represents water mist condensed at aboundary between the cooled air-curtain flow and the hot upflows A4 ofthe natural convection.

The temperature of the blown-out air curtain is lowered by the coolingheat exchanger 167 so that the low-temperature air curtain 160 is formedwhich intersects the hot upflows A4 of the natural convections generatedin the cleaning chamber 114. The change in the humidity in the air flowwill now be described with reference to the wet air graph shown in FIG.66. Assuming that the state of the upflows A4 of the natural convectionsat temperature T3 which is higher than the ambient temperature is P1,the intersection between the upflows A4 of the natural convections withthe low-temperature air curtain 160 on the cleaning chamber 114 causesthe air curtain 160 to lower the temperature T3 of the upflows A4 of thenatural convections, resulting in state P2 being shifted to the leftparallel to the abscissa of FIG. 66 until it reaches saturated vaporline C at which condensation of water contained in the air flows iscommenced. As a result, water mist 148 is generated. Assuming that thetemperature at this time is T4, the temperature of the upflows A4 of thenatural convections after the intersection is made lower than T4 bydetermining the temperature of the air curtain. As a result, the watermist 148 can be generated. The chemical mist 118 and the chemical vapor118b are dissolved into the generated water mist 148 and trapped by thewater mist as the chemical mist 118a to be dissolved into the water mistand the chemical vapor 118c to be dissolved into the water mist. Thewater mist is, together with the suction flows, allowed to pass throughthe air curtain discharge port 161 and the air curtain discharge duct162 and discharged through the discharge pipe.

This embodiment is, as described above, arranged in such a manner thatthe heat exchangers 167 for cooling air to be supplied and therefrigerator 168 for supplying the cooling medium to the heat exchanger167 are disposed in front of or in the rear of the air curtain blower156 to cause the cooling air supplied from the air curtain blower 156and the upflows of the natural convections of the vapor generated in thecleaning chamber 114 of the cleaning portion or the upflows of thenatural convections of the vapor generated in the vapor chamber of thedrying portion to intersect one another in the vicinity of the top endof the cleaning chamber or the vapor chamber. As a result, steam in thecooling air is condensed so that water mist is generated. The water misttraps the chemical mist or the drying vapor so that the diffusion of thechemical mist or the vapor into the cleaning apparatus or to the outsideof the apparatus causing the corrosion of the apparatus or defects ofthe wafer is prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and a cassette-less cleaning apparatus thatdoes not use the cleaning cassette and that directly handles the wafer.

THIRTY-THIRD EMBODIMENT

FIG. 73 is a front elevational and cross sectional view whichillustrates the detailed structure of a portion including the cleaningchamber of a semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to athirty-third embodiment. Referring to FIG. 73, reference numeral 149represents a double-fluid nozzle, 150 represents a pure-water tank, 151represents a gas pipe, 152 represents a fluid pipe, 153 represents a gaspipe for sending a solution under pressure, 154 represents inactive gasor clean air, 155 represents fine-grain pure-water mist, 156 representsan air curtain blower, 158 represents an air-curtain blow-out portformed along one side of the cleaning chamber 114 and having a uniformwidth, 157 represents an air curtain air supply duct for establishingthe connection between the air curtain blower 156 and the air-curtainblow-out port 158, 159 represents distribution of the blowing velocitiesof the air curtain, 160 represents an air curtain formed above thecleaning chamber 114, 161 represents an air-curtain suction port formedalong one side of the cleaning chamber 114 to face the air-curtainblow-out port 158, and 162 represents an air-curtain discharge duct forestablishing the connection between the air-curtain suction port 161 andthe discharge pipe.

The inactive gas or clean air 154 is distributed into the gas pipe 151and the gas pipe 153 for supplying the solution under pressure to thedouble-fluid nozzle 149. Pure water accumulated in the pure-water tank150 is sent to the solution pipe 152 under the pressure of the inactivegas supplied from the gas pipe 153 for supplying the solution underpressure or the pressure of pure air 154. The inactive gas or clean air154 is supplied to the double-fluid nozzle 149 through the gas pipe 151and pure water is supplied to the same from the solution pipe 152. As aresult, the fine-grain pure water mist 155 is generated. The fine-grainpure water mist 155 is mixed with the air flow in the air-curtain airsupply duct 157 and is, together with the air curtain 160, blown outthrough the air-curtain blow-out port 158 to reach a position above thecleaning chamber 144 and traps the chemical mist 118 and the chemicalvapor 118b by dissolving them as shown in FIG. 67. The pure-water mist155, together with suction flows into the air curtain, passes throughthe discharge ports 161 of the air curtain and discharge duct 162 of theair curtain and is then discharged through the discharge pipe.

Although this embodiment is so arranged that the pure water converted toa fine-mist using the double-fluid nozzle 149, the pure water mist maybe generated by employing a supersonic or a rotative disc or atransparent wet film or a heating method to obtain a similar effect.

This embodiment is, as described above, arranged in such a manner that ablow-out port of the double-fluid nozzle 149 for spraying clean air orthe active gas 154 as the secondary fluid is formed adjacent to theair-curtain blow-out port 158 to mix the pure-water mist 155 into theair curtain 160. Therefore, the water mist 155 traps the chemical mistgenerated in the cleaning chamber 114 of the cleaning portion or vaporgenerated from the steam chamber of the drying portion so that thediffusion of the chemical mist or the vapor into the cleaning apparatusor to the outside of the apparatus causing the corrosion of theapparatus or defects of the wafer is prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and a cassette-less cleaning apparatus thatdoes not use the cleaning cassette and that directly handles the wafer.

THIRTY-FOURTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 74 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure of a portion in a semiconductor cleaning apparatus accordingto a thirty-fourth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 74, reference numerals126a and 126b represent first air conditioning filters disposed abovethe cleaning chamber 114 of the cleaning portion 105 and water cleaningchambers 120a and 120b of the water cleaning portions 106a and 106b tosupply clean air. Reference numerals 130a and 130b represent firstdischarge ports formed to suck and discharge air around the cleaningchamber 114 and the water cleaning chambers 120a and 120b. Referencenumerals 131a to 131g represent fist first discharge ducts connected tothe first discharge ports 130a and 130b. Reference numerals 132a and132b represent first discharge pipes connected to the first dischargeducts 131a to 131g to discharge air to the outside of the semiconductorcleaning apparatus 101. Reference numeral 169 represents a second airconditioning filter disposed above the conveyance portion 110 andarranged to supply clean air. Reference numeral 170 represents a seconddischarge port disposed to suck and discharge air around the conveyanceportion 110b. Reference numerals 171a and 171b represent seconddischarge ducts connected to the second discharge port 170, and 172represents a second discharge pipe connected to the second dischargeducts 171a and 171b to discharge air to the outside of the semiconductorcleaning apparatus 101.

Reference numeral A1 represents a first downflow to be sent from thefirst air conditioning filters 126a and 126b, A2a to A2d represent firstsuction flows to be sucked through the first discharge ports 127a and127b, A3a to A3d represent first discharge flows to be discharged intothe first discharge pipes 132a and 132b by way of the first dischargeducts 128a to 128g, A7 represents a second downflow to be sent from thesecond air conditioning filter 169, A8 represents a second suction flowto be sucked into the second discharge port 170, and A9 represents asecond discharge flow to be discharged into the second discharge pipes172 by way of the second discharge ducts 171a and 171b.

The downflows A1 blown out of the first air conditioning filters 126aand 126b pass through the product conveyance portion 110a, the cassettehand 110h and the cleaning cassette 21 to be sucked as A2a to A2dthrough the first discharge port 130a formed around the cleaning chamber114 of the cleaning portion 105 and the first discharge port 130b formedaround the water cleaning chamber 120b of the water cleaning portion106b. Then, the downflows A1 are, as the first discharge flows A3a toA3d, discharged from the first discharge ducts 131a to 131f into thefirst discharge pipes 132a and 132b. The second downflows A6 blown outfrom the air conditioning filter 169 pass through the product conveyanceportion 110 are sucked through the second discharge port 170 formedaround the product conveyance portion 110b as A8, and then the seconddownflow A7 is discharged from the second discharge ducts 171a and 171binto the second discharge pipe 172 as the second discharge flow A9.

As a result, the first downflows A1 intersect above the cleaning chamber114 and the water cleaning chamber 120 to trap the chemical mistgenerated in the cleaning chamber 114, and then becomes equal suctionflows A2a to A2d sucked into the first discharge ports 130a and 130b.Further, the second downflows A7 are equally formed around theconveyance portion 110 so that the first downflows A1 and the seconddownflows A8 can be separated from each other. The upward movement anddiffusion of the chemical mist generated in the cleaning portion and thevapor in the drying portion while wafting on the natural convections canbe inhibited and insulated by the first downflows A1. As a result,generation of defects in the wafer can be prevented. Further, theinhibition of the second downflows A2 insulates the same to prevent theadhesion of the chemical mist from the cleaning chamber and vapor of thedrying portion to the conveyance device causing the conveyance device tobe corroded. In addition, adhesion of mechanical dust generated in theconveyance portion to the wafer, which is being cleaned, can beprevented.

Further, chemical mist generated from the cassette hand 110h and thecleaning cassette 21 when the cassette hand 110h immersed in thecleaning solution in the cleaning chamber 114 and the cleaning cassette21 are raised by the product conveyance portion 110a is trapped by thefirst downflows A1 and discharged into the first discharge pipes 132aand 132b together with the first suction flows A2a to A2d. Therefore,the diffusion of the chemical mist generating during the conveyance canalso be prevented.

Since this embodiment comprises the first air conditioning filters 126aand 126b for supplying clean air to the cleaning portion, the watercleaning portion and the drying portion and the first discharge pipes132a and 132b disposed in the vicinity of the chambers of the cleaningportion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion so thatdownflows are formed above the cleaning portion, the water cleaningportion and the drying portion. Further, the second air conditioningfilter 169 for supplying clean air to the conveyance portion and thesecond discharge pipe for discharging air from the conveyance portionare provided. Therefore, the upward movement and diffusion of thechemical mist generated in the cleaning portion and vapor in the dryingportion wafting on the natural convections are restricted and insulatedby the downflows. As a result, generation of defects in the wafer isprevented. In addition, adhesion of the chemical mist generated in thecleaning chamber and vapor in the drying portion to the conveyanceportion causing it to be corroded can be prevented. Moreover, adhesionof mechanical dust generated in the conveyance portion to the wafer,which is being cleaned, can be prevented.

Although the description has been about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment can be adapted toa cassette-less type cleaning apparatus using no cleaning cassette butdirectly handling the wafer.

THIRTY-FIFTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 75 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure of the portion in the semiconductor cleaning apparatusaccording to a thirty-fifth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 75, A1represents first downflows blown out from the first air conditioningfilters 126a and 126b, A7 represent second downflows blown out from thesecond air conditioning filter 169, and A10 represents downflows flowingfrom the conveyance portion 110 to the cleaning portion 105, the watercleaning portion 106 and the drying portion 107.

Letting the velocity (air supply pressure) of the first downflows A1blown out from the first air conditioning filters 126a and 126b be V2,and the velocity (air supply pressure) of the second downflows A7 blownout from the second air conditioning filter 169 be V3 and controllingsuch that V3 is always faster than V2 causes the second downflows A7 tobe divided into the air flow A10 flowing from the conveyance portion 110toward the cleaning portion 105, the water cleaning portion 106 and thedrying portion 107 and the second suction flow A8 to be sucked into thesecond discharge port 170 because the air supply pressure of the seconddownflows A7 is larger than that of the first downflow A1. Therefore,invasion of the chemical mist from the cleaning chamber 114 and vapor ofthe drying portion into the conveyance portion can further completely beprevented.

Since this embodiment is arranged in such a manner that the air supplypressure of the second air conditioning filter 169 is made higher thanthat of the first air conditioning filters 126a and 126b for supplyingclean air to the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portion and thedrying portion as described above, invasion of the chemical mist fromthe cleaning chamber 114 and vapor of the drying portion into theconveyance portion can further completely be prevented.

Although the description has been about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment may, of course,be adapted to a cassette-less cleaning apparatus which does not use thecleaning cassette and which directly handles the wafer.

THIRTY-SIXTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 76 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure in the semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to athirty-sixth embodiment. FIG. 77 is a perspective view which illustratesinsulating walls of the semiconductor cleaning apparatus according tothis embodiment. Referring to FIGS. 76 and 77, reference numeral 110crepresents a conveyance arm, 173a and 173b represent insulating wallsfor insulating the conveyance portion from the cleaning portion, thewater cleaning portion and the drying portion, 174 represents a cutportion through which the conveyance arm 110c passes at the time of thevertical movement of the conveyance arm 110c, A2b and A2c representfirst suction flows formed by separating the first downflows A1 blownout from the first air conditioning filters 126a and 126b by theinsulating walls 173a and 173b, the first suction flows A2b and A2cbeing sucked into the first discharge ports 130a and 130b. Symbol A8represents second suction flows formed by separating the seconddownflows A7 blown out from the second air conditioning filter 169 bythe insulating walls 173a and 173b, the second suction flows A8 beingsucked into the second discharge port 170. Symbol M1 represents thevertical movement of the conveyance portion 110, M2 represents thevertical movement of the conveyance portion 110c and M3 represents thehorizontal movement of the conveyance arm 110c.

The first downflows A1 and the second downflows A2 can be completelyseparated by physical means. In this embodiment, the space of theconveyance portion 110 and the spaces above the cleaning chamber 114 andthe drying chamber 121 are insulated from one another by the insulatingwalls 173a and 173b. At this time, the cleaning cassette 21 is held bythe cassette hand 110h of the conveyance portion 110 to shift it to thecleaning chamber 114, the water cleaning chamber 120 and the dryingchamber 121 so that the process is performed. In order to achieve this,the arm 110c of the conveyance portion is able to perform the verticalmovement M2 while passing through the cut portion 174 of the insulatingwalls 173a and 173b when the conveyance portion 110 performs thevertical movement M1. The horizontal movement M3 of the arm 110c of theconveyance portion is performed in a space above the top end of theinsulating wall 173.

This embodiment is, as described above, so arranged that the insulatingwall 173 for insulating the conveyance portion from the cleaningportion, the water cleaning portion and the drying portion is provided.Further, the downflows sent from the second air conditioning filter 169for supplying clean air to the conveyance portion are sent to the seconddischarge pipe 172 in the lower portion of the conveyance portion, whilethe downflows sent from the first air conditioning filers 126a and 126bfor supplying clean air to the cleaning portion, the water cleaningportion and the drying portion are set to the first discharge ports 130aand 130b disposed around the chambers in the cleaning portion, the watercleaning portion and the drying portion. Since the downflows arecompletely divided into individual downflows, the corrosion of theconveyance portion due to the adhesion of the chemical mist and thecontamination of the wafer due to the mechanical dust generated in theconveyance portion can be completely prevented.

Although the description has been about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment can, of course,be adapted to a cassette-less-type cleaning apparatus which does not usethe cleaning cassette and which directly handles the wafer.

THIRTY-SEVENTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 78 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure in a semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to athirty-seventh embodiment. Referring to FIG. 78, reference numeral 189represents a gas supply portion for supplying a gaseous material to agap between at least any one of the cleaning portions 105a, 105b, thewater cleaning portions 106a to 106c or the drying portion 107 and theconveyance portion 110. Reference numeral 189a represents gas, and 172represents a fourth discharge portion for discharging air from the lowerportion of the conveyance portion 110.

First, the quantity of the gas to be supplied from the gas supplyportion 189 is previously determined to be larger than the quantity tobe discharged from the fourth discharge portion 172. Since the gas 189ais supplied from the gas supply portion 189 to the gap among thecleaning portions 105a and 105, the water cleaning portions 106a to106c, the drying portion 107 and the conveyance portion 110, the mistfrom the cleaning portions 105a and 105b, the water cleaning portions106a to 106c and the drying portion 107 does not reach the conveyanceportion 110. Therefore, the mechanism portion of the conveyance portion110 can be protected from corrosion by the mist. Further, dust generatedin the mechanism portion of the conveyance portion 110 is, together witha portion of the gas 189a, introduced into the fourth discharge portion172. Therefore, the adhesion of the dust to the wafer, which is beingcleaned, can be prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and to a cassette-less-type cleaningapparatus which does not use the cleaning cassette and which directlyhandles the wafer.

THIRTY-EIGHTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 79 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure of the inside portion of a semiconductor cleaning apparatusaccording to a thirty-eighth embodiment. FIG. 80 is a plan view whichillustrates the cleaning apparatus according to this embodiment.Referring to FIGS. 79 and 80, reference numeral 126 represents an airconditioning filter for supplying clean air into the cleaning apparatus,131a represents a discharge duct communicated with a discharge pipe 132,130a represents an opening portion communicated with the discharge duct131a, 190 represents a fifth discharge portion for discharging air fromthe end portion of the locus of the conveyance portion 110, and 300brepresents stagnant air.

The quantity of air to be supplied from the air conditioning filter 126and the quantity of air discharged from the discharge pipe 132 arebalanced previously. Air supplied from the air conditioning filter 126passes through the opening portion 130a formed in the cleaning portions105a and 105b, the water cleaning portions 106a to 106c and the dryingportion 107 to be discharged to the discharge pipe 132 through thedischarge duct 131a. A portion of air is undesirably stagnated at an endof the locus of the conveyance portion 110. The stagnant air 300bcontains mist at the time of raising the wafer from each portion. Inorder to prevent introduction of the stagnant air 300b into the watercleaning portions 106a and 106b whenever the conveyance robot 110a ofthe conveyance portion 110 is operated which causes the adhesion of themist to the wafer which is being cleaned with water or to the raisedwafer which has been cleaned with water, the fifth discharge portion 190discharges the stagnant air 300b from the end of the locus of theconveyance portion 110.

As a result, troubles occurring due to the mist in the cleaningapparatus can be prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and to a cassette-less-type cleaningapparatus which does not use the cleaning cassette and which directlyhandles the wafer.

THIRTY-NINTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 81 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure of the internal portion of a semiconductor cleaning apparatusaccording to a thirty-ninth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 81, referencenumeral 191 represents a sixth discharge portion for discharging airfrom between at least any one of the cleaning portions 105a and 105b,the water cleaning portions 106a to 106 and the drying portion 107 andthe outer wall 101 of the cleaning apparatus body 101. Reference numeral300c represents stagnant air.

The quantity of air to be supplied from the air conditioning filter 126and the quantity of air to be discharged from the discharge pipe 132 ispreviously balanced. Air supplied from the air conditioning filter 126passes through the opening portion 130a formed in the cleaning portions105a and 105b, the water cleaning portions 106a to 106c and the dryingportion 107 and discharged to the exhaust pipe 132 through the dischargeduct 131a. However, the presence of the outer wall 101a of the cleaningapparatus body 101 causes a portion of air to become stagnant among thecleaning portions 105a, 105b, the water cleaning portions 106c to 106cand the drying portion 107 and the outer wall 101a. The stagnant air300c contains mist at the time of raising the wafer from each portion.In order to prevent introduction of the stagnant air 300c into eachportion and adhesion of the mist to the wafer, which is being cleanedwith water or the raised wafer which has been cleaned with water, thesixth discharge portion 191 discharges the stagnant air 300c.

As a result, troubles occurring due to the mist in the cleaningapparatus can be prevented.

This embodiment can be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and to a cassette-less-type cleaningapparatus which does not use the cleaning cassette and which directlyhandles the wafer.

FORTIETH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 82 is a perspective view which illustrates a window structure of asemiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a fortieth embodiment.Referring to FIG. 82, reference numeral 180 represents an openingportion formed in a partition plate for sealing the cleaning portion,the water cleaning portion and the drying portion into sealed chambers,181 represents an outer frame formed around the opening portion 180, 182represents a door so disposed along the outer frame 181 to be opened asdesired, and 183 represents a guide member for guiding theopening/closing operation of the door 182.

In order to seal the cleaning portion, the water cleaning portion andthe drying portion into sealed chambers and causing the product cassette22 or the cleaning wafer cassette 21 to be injected/ejected as desired,a window structure 177 arranged as shown in FIG. 82 is provided. Thedoor 182 slides along the guide member 183 to open/close the openingportion 180 while preventing contact with the outer frame 181. The outerframe 181 has plural discharge ports 184 to discharge air through thedischarge ports 184 at least when the door 182 is being opened orclosed. As a result,-introductions of dust generated due toopening/closing of the door 182 and mist from the cleaning apparatus canbe prevented.

This embodiment may be adapted to a cassette-type cleaning apparatususing the cleaning cassette and a cassette-less-type cleaning apparatuswhich does not use the cleaning cassette and which directly handles thewafer.

FORTY-FIRST EMBODIMENT

FIG. 83 is a plan view which illustrates a semiconductor cleaningapparatus according to a forty-first embodiment. FIG. 84 is a frontelevational view which illustrates this embodiment. Referring to FIGS.83 and 84, reference numeral 175 represents a load locking chamberadjacent to the window structure 177 between the cleaning apparatus body101 and the loader/unloader portion 102, and 176a and 176b representdoors of load locking chamber 175 for injecting/ejecting the productcassette 22 to and from the load locking chamber 175.

As the initial stage for the load locking chamber 175, the doors 176aand 176b of the load locking chamber 175 and the window structure 177are closed. The product cassette 22 accommodating the wafer is placed onthe product cassette retaining frame of the loader/unloader portion 102.The shifting robot 125 takes out the wafer from the product cassette 22and opens the doors 176a and 176b of the load locking chamber 175 tointroduce the wafer into the load locking chamber 175 and shift it tothe cleaning cassette 21 placed on the cleaning wafer cassette retainingframe 124. Then, the doors 176a and 176b of the load locking chamber 175are closed. The cleaning cassette 21 thus accommodating the wafer isheld by the cassette hand 110h of the product conveyance portion 110after the window structure 177 of the load locking chamber 175 has beenopened. As a result, it is shifted onto the cleaning wafer cassetteretaining frame 123 is on standby on the cleaning wafer cassetteretaining frame 123. Then, the window structure 177 of the load lockingchamber 175 is closed.

After the cleaning process has been completed, the product conveyanceportion 110 takes out the cleaning cassette 21 from the drying chamber121, and opens the window structure 177 of the load locking chamber 175to introduce the cleaning cassette 21 into the load locking chamber 175and shift it on the cleaning wafer cassette retaining frame 124 of theloader/unloader portion 102. Then, the window structure 177 of the loadlocking chamber 175 is closed. Then, the shifting robot 125 opens thedoors 176a and 176b of the load locking chamber 175, and then takes outthe wafer from the cleaning cassette 21 placed on the cleaning wafercassette retaining frame 124 to shift it to an empty product cassette 22placed on the product cassette retaining frame. Then, the doors 176a and176b of the load locking chamber 175 are closed. Therefore, even ifthere is a pressure difference between the static pressure in thecleaning apparatus body 101 and the external static pressure, the airflow generated due to the pressure difference and causing chemical mistgenerated in the cleaning portion and vapor of the drying portion toadhere to the component units in the sealed chamber resulting in thatthe component units are corroded. Further, adhesion to the wafer causinga defect and outward diffusion causing similar corrosion and generationof defects can be prevented.

This embodiment is, as described above, so arranged that the cleaningportion, the water cleaning portion, the drying portion and theconveyance portion are in the sealed chamber structures. Further, theload locking chamber 175 is formed on this side of the window structure177, which can be opened/closed to inject/eject the wafer hand forholding the cleaning cassette 21 accommodating the wafer shifted fromthe product cassette 22 in the loader/unloader portion 102 or directlyholding the wafer ejected from the product cassette 22. Therefore, theair flow generated due to the pressure difference between the staticpressure in the sealed chamber and the static pressure of the externalportion insulated by the window structure at the time of opening thewindow and causing chemical mist generated in the cleaning portion andvapor of the drying portion to adhere to the component units in thesealed chamber resulting in the component units being corroded isprevented. Further, adhesion to the wafer causing a defect and outwarddiffusion causing similar corrosion and generation of defects can beprevented.

Although the description has been about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment may, of course,be adapted to a cassette-less-type cleaning apparatus which does not usea cleaning cassette and which directly handles the wafer.

FORTY-SECOND EMBODIMENT

FIGS. 85 and 86 respectively are a plan view and a side elevational viewwhich illustrate a semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to aforty-second embodiment. The product cassette accommodating the wafer,which has not been cleaned, is injected into the loader/unloader portion102. The wafer in the product cassette is, by the shifting robot 125,taken out from the product cassette to be shifted to the shiftingportion, the wafer being shifted to the cleaning cassette 21 in theshifting portion. After the shifting robot 125 has been removed from theshifting portion, the shielding plate 187b is closed and the window 177is opened. The cleaning cassette 21 accommodating the wafer is held bythe cassette hand of the conveyance robot 110a of the conveyance portion110 to be injected into the cleaning portion 105a. Then, the window 177is closed and the insulating plate 187b is opened. The cleaning cassette21 injected into the cleaning portion 105a is sequentially shifted tothe cleaning portion 105b, the water cleaning portions 106a to 106c andthe drying portion 107. As a result, the wafer cleaning process iscompleted.

The insulating plate 187b is closed, the window 177 is opened, and thecleaning cassette 21 accommodating the wafer, which has been cleaned, isshifted to the shifting portion by the conveyance robot 110a. Then, thewindow 177 is closed and the insulating plate 187b is opened. Theshifting robot 125 takes out the wafer from the cleaning cassette 21 tobe shifted to the loader/unloader portion 102. The wafer is shifted tothe product cassette in the loader/unloader portion 102 before it isdischarged.

Then, a state where the cleaning apparatus according to this embodimentis used in a semiconductor manufacturing plant is shown in FIG. 87.Referring to FIG. 87, reference numeral 132 represents a discharge ductconnected to the duct of the plant, 301 represents another manufacturingapparatus, 201 represents a dry zone exhibiting excellent cleanlinessfor another manufacturing apparatus, and 118 represents mist flying fromthe cleaning apparatus.

The cleaning apparatus 101 according to this embodiment is so arrangedthat the sealed chamber insulates the cleaning portion, the watercleaning portion and the drying portion from the dry zone 201. Further,the window 177 and the insulating plate 187b are not simultaneouslyopened even in a process of cleaning the wafer in the product cassette.Therefore, the fear of flying of the mist 118 from the cleaningapparatus 101 to the dry zone 201 can be completely eliminated.Therefore, the necessity of dividing the other manufacturing apparatusand the air conditioning facilities can be eliminated. Further, even ifthe air flow in the dry zone 201 is disordered due to the shift of theapparatus, articles, and persons, flying of the mist 118 to the dry zone201 can be prevented. Therefore, generation of defective products anddeterioration in the characteristics due to the mist can be prevented.

Although the description has been about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment may, of course,be adapted to a cassette-less-type cleaning apparatus which does not usethe cleaning cassette and which directly handles the wafer.

FORTY-THIRD EMBODIMENT

FIG. 88 is a perspective view which illustrates a load locking chamberof a semiconductor cleaning apparatus according to a forty-thirdembodiment. Referring to FIG. 88, reference numeral 175 represents aload locking chamber disposed adjacent to the window structure betweenthe cleaning apparatus body 101 and the loader/unloader portion 102,176a and 176b represent doors of the load locking chamber 175 which canbe opened/closed to inject/eject the product cassette 22 to and from theload locking chamber 175, 178 represents an air conditioning filterdisposed in the upper portion of the load locking chamber 175 andarranged to supply clean air to the load locking chamber 175, 179represents a discharge portion for discharging air from the load lockingchamber 175, and 184 represents a discharge pipe connected to thedischarge portion 179 and arranged to finally discharge air to theoutside of the load locking chamber 175.

The downflows All blown out from the air conditioning filter 178 passthrough the load locking chamber 175, and are then discharged to theoutside of the load locking chamber 175 through the discharge pipe 184via the discharge portion 179. Therefore, the inside portion of the loadlocking chamber 175 can be always kept clean. Further, the staticpressure in the load locking chamber 175 is made to be always the sameas the pressure of the portion opened in the previous process. That is,even if the doors 176a and 176b of the load locking chamber are openedand then closed, the internal pressure of the load locking chamber 175is the same as the static pressure of the external portion. Therefore,when the window structure 177 of the load locking chamber is thenopened, a pressure difference is present between the internal staticpressure of the load locking chamber 175 and the internal staticpressure of the cleaning apparatus body 101. Although the air flowgenerated due to the pressure difference is very small as compared withthe case where the load locking chamber 175 is not present because thecapacity in the load locking chamber 175 is small, it must be completelyprevented. Accordingly, the air supply pressure of the air conditioningfilter 178 and the air discharge pressure from the discharge pipe 184are changed, the static pressure in the load locking chamber 175 andthat of the space which is communicated in the next process aredetected, and the static pressure in the load locking chamber 175 andthat in the space to be communicated in the next step are made to be thesame in response to a signal denoting the detected static pressures.

Since this embodiment is, as described above, arranged so that the loadlocking chamber 175 is provided with the third air conditioning filter178 for supplying clean air and the third discharge pipe 184 fordischarging air from the load locking chamber 175, the inside portion ofthe load locking chamber 175 can be kept clean. Further, flying of dustdue to the air flow generated depending upon the pressure differencefrom the pressure level in the chamber when the door of the load lockingchamber 175 is opened can be prevented.

Although the description has been about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment may, of course,be adapted to a cassette-less cleaning apparatus which does not use thecleaning cassette and which directly handles the wafer.

FORTY-FOURTH EMBODIMENT

FIG. 89 is a front cross sectional view which illustrates the detailedstructure of the inner portion of a semiconductor cleaning apparatusaccording to a forty-fourth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 89, referencenumeral 126 represents an air conditioning filter disposed above thecleaning chamber 114 and arranged to supply clean air, 130a and 130brepresent discharge ports for sucking and discharging air around thecleaning chamber 114, 131a and 131b represent discharge ducts connectedto the discharge ports 130a and 130b, 132 represents a discharge pipeconnected to the discharge ducts 131a and 131g and arranged to finallydischarge air to the outside of the semiconductor cleaning apparatus101, and 185 represents a demistor for removing chemical mist generatedin the cleaning chamber 114 and mixed with the suction flows A5a and A5band discharge flows A3a and A3b. Symbol A1 represents downflows to besent from the air conditioning filter 126, A5a and A5b represent suctionflows to be sucked into the discharge ports 130a and 130b, and A3a andA3b represent discharge flows to be discharged into the discharge pipe132 via the discharge ducts 131a and 131b.

The downflows A1 blown out from the air conditioning filter 126 passthrough a space above the cleaning chamber 114, trap the chemical mistgenerated in the cleaning chamber 114, sucked through the dischargeports 130a and 130b formed around the cleaning chamber 114 as designatedby air flows A5a and A5b, and discharged from the discharge ducts 131aand 131b to the discharge pipe 132 as designated by discharge flows A3aand A3b. At this time, the demistor 185 formed by placing a net-shapesheet into the discharge pipe 132 Is used to remove the chemical mist.As a result, the undesirable return of the chemical mist into thedischarge pipe and undesirable re-sending of it to the clean room isprevented so that diffusion of the chemical mist and dried vapor in theoverall clean room or into the cleaning apparatus causing the corrosionof the apparatus and generation of defects in the wafer can beprevented.

Although the demistor 185 is so arranged that the net-shape sheet isplaced in the discharge pipe, the net-shape sheet may be a porousmaterial or a structure which bubbles the discharge flow through purewater to obtain a similar effect.

This embodiment is, as described above, so arranged that the firstfilter 126 for supplying clean air to the cleaning portion, the watercleaning portion and the drying portion and the first discharge pipe 132disposed in the vicinity of the chambers of the cleaning portion, thewater cleaning portion and the drying portion are used. Further, thedemistor 185 made of a porous material or the net-shape filler isdisposed at an intermediate position of the discharge pipe 132.Therefore, chemical mist and dried vapor mixed into the discharged aircan be removed so that diffusion of the chemical mist or the dried vaporwafting on the circulating air into the apparatus or toward the outsideof the apparatus causing the corrosion of the apparatus and defects ofthe wafer can be prevented.

Although the description has been made about the cassette-type cleaningapparatus using the cleaning cassette, this embodiment may, of course,be adapted to a cassette-less cleaning apparatus which does not use thecleaning cassette and which directly handles the wafer.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor cleaning apparatus comprising:acassette loader/unloader for accommodating a product cassette; ashifting portion for loading a wafer into and unloading a wafer fromsaid the product cassette in the cassette loader/unloader; a cleaningportion for cleaning a wafer unloaded from said product cassette in saidshifting portion; a water cleaning portion for cleaning with water awafer that has been cleaned in said cleaning portion; a drying portionfor drying said wafer that has been cleaned with water in said watercleaning portion; and a conveyance for sequentially conveying a waferunloaded from said the product cassette in said shifting portion to saidcleaning portion, said water cleaning portion, and said drying portion,wherein said loader/unloader and said shifting portion are disposedalong a widthwise direction of said cleaning apparatus, said conveyanceis disposed centrally in said cleaning apparatus, and said cleaningportion, said water cleaning portion, and said drying portion aredisposed on both sides of said conveyance.
 2. A semiconductor cleaningapparatus comprising:a cassette loader/unloader extending in a widthwisedirection of the cleaning apparatus for accommodating a productcassette; a shifting portion adjoining the cassette loader/unloader andextending in the widthwise direction for transferring a wafer betweenthe product cassette in the cassette loader/unloader and a cleaningcassette; a plurality of wafer processing portions including at leastone cleaning portion for cleaning a wafer, at least one water cleaningportion for cleaning with water a wafer that has been cleaned in thecleaning portion, and at least one drying portion for drying a waferthat has been cleaned with water in the water cleaning portion; and aconveyance movable in a lengthwise direction of the apparatus forsequentially conveying a cleaning cassette from the shifting portion tothe cleaning portion, the water cleaning portion, and the dryingportion, wherein at least one of the wafer processing portions isdisposed on each widthwise side of the conveyance.
 3. An apparatus asclaimed in claim 2 including a plurality of the cleaning portionsdisposed on a same widthwise side of the conveyance.
 4. An apparatus asclaimed in claim 2 including a plurality of the water cleaning portionsdisposed on a same widthwise side of the conveyance.
 5. An apparatus asclaimed in claim 2 wherein each cleaning portion is disposed on a firstwidthwise side of the conveyance and each water cleaning portion isdisposed on a second widthwise side of the conveyance.
 6. An apparatusas claimed in claim 2 wherein the drying portion and the water cleaningportion are disposed on a same widthwise side of the conveyance.
 7. Anapparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the shifting portion is disposedbetween the cassette loader/unloader and the cleaning portion, the watercleaning portion, and the drying portion.